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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Wood Blewits

By Harold Hartford

Clitocybe nebularis is one of the sturdiest representatives of its genus. It is readily identified by its loudy whitish cap, whose surface has a slight ashp:ey bloom, and by its sharp aromatic distinctive men, reminiscent of soap. It grows gregariously in different types of woods and even outside them.

The flesh also later becomes whitish or greyish and has a pleasant scent. This characteristic purple colour, however, lasts for a long time on the stipe. Wood Blewits arc excellent edible mushrooms, appropriate for a variety of dishes. They are especially delicious when pickled in vinegar. They can be easily found by mushroom-pickers because they usually grow gregariously and also in the season when other edible mushrooms are scarce.

Like Blewits, fresh fruit-bodies of Wood Blewits contain a substance which damages red blood- cells. However, it is neutralized by boiling and so thoroughly cooked mushrooms are not dangerous. Wood Blewits can be confused with some purple species of the Cortiwarivs genus. However, all of these are distinguished by their rust-brown spore powder, by the presence of the cobweb-like veil (cortina) and by their unpleasant smell.

Edible mushrooms can be found not only in forests, but also in meadows, pastures and on grassy slopes. Blewits are among the most substantial and tasty. They even attract the inexperienced eye because they often grow in circles in patches of dark green grass, which ate a strikingly deeper green than the rest of the sward. A similar phenomenon may be observed in the Fairy-ring champignon (Marasmius oreades) and is due to the production of nitrogen, which enriches the soil and provides additional nourishment for green plants. This is one example of the symbiosis of certain fungus mycelia and adjacent green plants.

The flesh of the Blewits has a pleasant mushroom taste and scent, the stipe is short and looks as if it had been stained with ink. Blewits are excellent edible mushrooms, and can be prepared in a number of ways. Their utility is further increased by the fact that they can still embellish our diet when other edible mushrooms are on the decline.

In calm weather conditions it is possible to smell the scent of Clitocybe adorn at a distance of several metres away, especially when several specimens arc growing together in one spot. This species is edible and best utilized when added to mixtures of other, less aromatic mushrooms. It grows predominantly in spruce forests amongst rotting needles. It loses its typical scent when it is dried out. - 16477

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