themess1 Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 While checking on some baby dryads I found the other day, I saw a few suspected blewits. Very small so id will be tough. My question is, what are the best ways to positively id blewits? I had a ton in the yard last year that I'm 95% sure were blewits but I was just getting into mushroom foraging sure I wasn't taking a chance. Obviously, spore print is a must. Any other tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themess1 Posted October 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 What are your thoughts? The "cobwebbing" attached to the stipe concerns me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Not a blewit. Probably c. alboviolaceus or a similar purple cort (traganus et al). Spore print should be brown. Your concern about the "webbing" is spot on; corts get their name from the cortina covering the young gills. This becomes the webbing, seen in your photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shroomersue Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Yup I agree that's a cortinarius...if you do a spore print and its rust coloured then it's a court. Blewiits will be a flesh salmon spore print. I got excited too when I saw a bunch along with my lactarius finds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted October 4, 2015 Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 Just re read your post. I can't give a "know it's a blewit" solid answer. Once you confirm an i.d. I find them pretty easy. Your photo, obviously, has huge STOP signs in the webbing. Other than that, the convex, splitting cap, with visible striations would immediately make me suspicious. Most lepistas, I find, don't have a defined convex cap and are mildly convex to flat to uprolled. Another (non guide book) feature, I use , is a stipe that splits and curls, when cut. Much like a celery stalk. Again spore print, spore print, spore print, will give answers. I think Dave posted, somewhere, that he'd tried corts and found a "dirt' flavour. I find that with odour as well. lepistas have a pleasant fruity aroma that I've never noticed in a purple cort. Also, although I haven't played with corts much, lepistas seem more robust.Nuda ,especially, can be found with various colours from purple, washed out purple, to brown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themess1 Posted October 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 This was a slightly older patch that I found. No webbing present. The stipe has naturally split and peeled back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themess1 Posted October 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2015 I agree, definitely need a spore print. That's the next step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave W Posted October 5, 2015 Report Share Posted October 5, 2015 These are all Corts. Note the rusty brown spore deposit seen on the upper stalk of the larger one with no partial veil. Veil disappears quickly with most Corts. Many possibilities for the species of the ones seen here. Possibly more than one species seen in this post. Top photos look like maybe Cortinarius torvus... but I have low confidence in this proposal. Aside from the difference in spore print colors, Blewits have gills that are more closely spaced than many of the purplish Corts. Sorry, no Blewits here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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