Clitocybe nuda | |
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Wood blewit (Lepista nuda) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Basidiomycota |
Class: | Agaricomycetes |
Order: | Agaricales |
Family: | Tricholomataceae |
Genus: | |
Species: | C. nuda |
Binomial name | |
Clitocybe nuda (Bull.) H.E.Bigelow & A.H.Sm. (1969) |
|
Synonyms | |
Agaricus nudus Bull. (1790) |
Clitocybe nuda | |
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Mycological characteristics | |
gills on hymenium | |
cap is convex or umbonate |
|
hymenium is emarginate | |
stipe is bare | |
spore print is pink | |
ecology is saprotrophic | |
edibility: choice |
Agaricus nudus Bull. (1790)
Cortinarius nudus (Bull.) Gray (1821)
Gyrophila nuda (Fr.) Quél. (1886)
Lepista nuda (Bull.) Cooke (1871)
Tricholoma nudum (Bull.) P.Kumm. (1871)
Rhodopaxillus nudus (Bull.) Maire (1913) Tricholoma personatum var. nudum (Bull.) Rick (1961)
cap is convex
Clitocybe nuda, commonly known as the wood blewit and alternately described as Lepista nuda, is an edible mushroom native to Europe and North America. Described by Pierre Bulliard in 1790, it was also known as Tricholoma nudum for many years. It is found in both coniferous and deciduous woodlands. It is a fairly distinctive mushroom that is widely eaten, though there is some caution about edibility. Nevertheless, it has been cultivated in Britain, the Netherlands and France.
The French mycologist Pierre Bulliard described the wood blewit in his work Herbier de la France in 1790 as Agaricus nudus, reporting that it was common in the woods all year. He wrote of two varieties: one whose gills and cap are initially light violet and mature to burgundy, while the other has vine-coloured gills that intensify in colour with age. He added that the first variety was often confused with Cortinarius violaceus, though it has a "nude" cap and no spidery web veil unlike the other species. English naturalist James Bolton gave it the name Agaricus bulbosa—the bulbous agaric—in his An History of Fungusses growing about Halifax in 1791. He noted that it was rare in the region, though had found some in Ovenden.