BASIDIOMYCETES: Agaricales, Tricholomataceae

Blewit, Clitocybe nuda

Basidiomycetes, order: Agaricales, family: Tricholomataceae

Height to 3½"

Cap is up to 6" wide, convex, and then flattened and depressed in the center. Surface is smooth, pale purple or bluish-purple, becoming light brown. Margin is inrolled when young and upturned and undulating in older specimens. The stalk is thick, becoming bulbous at the base, and pale pinkish-purple. Gills are pale purple or light brown and partly attached, slightly descending down the stalk. Spore print is pale pink to tan-pink. Flesh has a strong, sweet odor. Blewits are found on the ground in open woodlands or in gardens and compost piles throughout North America during the fall or during the winter in California. Edible and very good.