Sordid blewit

What the mushroom is

Collybia sordida is a mushroom of the Tricholomataceae, a terrestrial species that grows in leaf litter, on compost heaps containing leaf litter, and in grassland near trees. It was formerly placed in the genus Lepista as Lepista sordida, and both names appear in older literature.

The catalogue names the species as sordid blewit, a research label that does not validate the current name. Wikipedia lists the species under Collybia sordida, so that name is used as the heading here.

Food use

Several foraging guides list the sordid blewit as edible. One guide places it among intermediate-level edibles that appear from autumn into winter, and another says it can be prepared in the same way as the field blewit and the wood blewit.

The Brazilian food-use record in the supplied catalogue is recorded alongside the statement that documented occurrence and consumption do not establish a standardized food-safety assessment. The sources reviewed here give no quantity, no cooking time and no storage advice for the species.

Lookalikes

The wood blewit, Lepista nuda, is nearly identical to the sordid blewit and is also edible, so confusing the two carries little risk according to the guides. The lilac fibrecap, Inocybe lilacina, is a deadly poisonous lookalike. Its buff gills turn clay brown with age, which separates it from the blewits.

These comparisons come from foraging guides and nature sites. The sources reviewed here do not give a comparison based on examined specimens.

Habitat and distribution

The guides record the species in Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe, Texas and Algeria. The supplied catalogue adds the Brazilian record in the Atlantic rainforest, where the species is terrestrial. No Brazilian locality was found in the sources reviewed for this page.

Identification and safety

Blewits are often named in foraging guides as edible, but the lookalikes include a deadly species. Confirm any identification with an experienced local forager or a mycologist before eating a wild fungus. This page gives no identification or edibility verdict for Collybia sordida.