Blewit refers to two closely related species of edible agarics in the genus Collybia, the wood blewit (Collybia nuda, formerly Clitocybe nuda or Lepista nuda) and the field blewit or blue-leg (C. personata, formerly Clitocybe personata, Lepista personata, or Lepista saeva).
Classification
editBoth species were treated by many authorities as belonging to the genus Lepista. Recent molecular research suggested the genus Lepista is nested within Clitocybe[1] but they were reclassified as Collybia in 2023.[2]
Edibility
editBoth wood blewits and field blewits are edible.
Field blewits are often infested with fly larvae and do not store very well; they should therefore be used soon after picking. They are also very porous, so they are best picked on a dry day.[3]
The blewits are considered excellent mushrooms, despite their coloration. Blewits can be eaten as a cream sauce or sautéed in butter. They can also be cooked like tripe or as omelette filling, and wood blewits also make good stewing mushrooms.[3]
Footnotes
edit- ^ Moncalvo JM. et al. (2002). One hundred and seventeen clades of euagarics. Archived 2013-08-17 at the Wayback Machine Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 23:357–400
- ^ He, Zheng-Mi; Chen, Zuo-Hong; Bau, Tolgor; Wang, Geng-Shen; Yang, Zhu L. (November 2023). "Systematic arrangement within the family Clitocybaceae (Tricholomatineae, Agaricales): phylogenetic and phylogenomic evidence, morphological data and muscarine-producing innovation". Fungal Diversity. 123 (1): 1–47. doi:10.1007/s13225-023-00527-2. ISSN 1560-2745. S2CID 265474036.
- ^ a b Mabey, Richard (2004). Food for Free. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-718303-8.