Blewits?

[eat-bolete]

Thought these are Corts but I guess Blewits? can they be anything else? spore print (light peachy) is shown next to mushrooms.

[Tasso]

Based on the spore print, I'd say they are Blewits.

[rob]

Just by eyeballing, sans spore print, I'll agree with Tasso. Inrolled caps, gills, stalks all say blewit to me. How do they smell? Lepistas have a pleasant fruity aroma. Spore print looks spot on as well. I've found, that once you've got a solid i.d., lepistas have an undefineable feel to them. Both irina and nuda seem to have that combination of texture, odour, habitat, gill structure, etc. that tells you that it's a lepista.

[rob]

eat-bolete, look at Daves' post on honeys and blewits. Great pics and an awesome comparison between blewits and purple corts (note staining on the stem, in the cort photo).

[eat-bolete]

_{Yeah I saw Dave's post but the Cort he posted has inrolled margins as well...and the cap on these blewits is not as smooth/sticky-looking as on Dave's purple ones. That's why I wasn't sure. I guess blewits have more crowded gills than corts?}

[rob]

eat-bolete, for sure the corts have inrolled margins, in Daves' pics. But they're not the same, the robustness of your finds is far different from Daves. I'm not saying an inrolled cap margin is an identifier, however, on your photos it helps me to feel you have nudas. Dave also responded to a possible blewit post, where he commented on gill spacing, vis a vie lepistas/corts. themess1 posted on Oct 4th about possible blewits.

[Dave W]

I think the best evidence here favoring a Blewit ID is the spore print color. Nice thick prints showing a fleshy color. Corts have vividly rusty brown prints. Lepsta (= Clitocybe) irina has a similar spore print color to Blewits. This pale-colored type of mushroom has edible qualities similar to that of Blewits. Clitocybe tarda looks like a small thin Blewit. Gills are often spaced a tad bit more than Blewits. This type is edible.

By coincidence, I printed a Blewit I found yesterday. My spore print is not as thick as eat-bolete's.

It's a good idea to also be aware of a few pale-capped Clitocybes that have beige to pinkish spore prints. C. connatum and C. subconnexa fall into this category. These types usually grow in clusters. Not dangerous, but not tasty. Small white Clitocybes with white spore print form a dangerous group.

Gill spacing is a pretty good Blewits criterion, in my experience. Blewits --at least young ones-- have closely spaced gills with straight/neat even edges. Robustness... I have collected many Blewits with thick fairly bulbous stalks, although a stalk that has an abruptly bulbous base points toward Cortinarius.

Also, be aware there are some large/fleshy Entolomas --salmon pink spore print-- that are poisonous.

[eat-bolete]

Thanks Dave. Are any poisonous Entolomas purple/violet in color?

[Dave W]

Most of the large Entolomas are grayish, but a slightly violet tinge would not be out of character. If you suspect that you have an Entoloma, then the spores may help. Print color is a much richer color of pink than Lepista. Also, if you examine the spores at 400x under a microscope, it will become obvious whether or not you have an Entoloma. Some species to check and be aware of... E. sinuatum, E. lividum, E. griseus, E. bicolor.

[brianf]

Some of those Entoloma's are a worry when picking sweetbreads.......I've never considered the possibility to resemble other mushrooms as well. Thanks for pointing that out Dave, because I have def. seen at least Livid Entoloma's with a purple/grey hue........ The pink spore print of these Entoloma's are the best reason why you shouldn't even bother with sweetbreads.......and I should head my own advice. I can also see bi-colors being a bit confusing with the blewit's that have taken on a brownish cap surface....the gills on bi-color are white though right?

[Dave W]

E. bicolor... gills pale at first, becoming pink.