Lepista panaeolus
Spotted Blewit
Status:
Uncommon to Rare
Chalice or Goblet shaped.
Cap:
10-12cm
Stem:
5-6cm
Means variegated.
Description
A characteristic species of meadows and unimproved pasture that often grows in large rings. Care should be taken with older specimens as the spots around the edge of the cap disappear with age and they can resemble other pale grassland species. The cap is smooth.
Smell
Mealy, like wet flour, quite strong.
Season
Autumn, especially later in the season. We often find this species when search for wax caps towards the end of October.
Habitat & Distribution
Meadows, churchyards and unimproved grassland. Usually when you find this species there is also a good array of waxcaps, clubs and corals too. This species often grows in large rings.
Edibility
Edible but it would be wise to leave them alone, not only are they quite rare but the older specimens could be confused with more poisonous species such as the Clitocybes, which occur in the same habitat.
Confusion Species
Spores
4.5-7 x 3-5µm, minutely roughened, ellipsoid.
Spore Print Colour
Pale pink.
Young specimens with the ring of spots on the cap should be straight forward, but older specimens that have lost these could look like some of the poisonous grassland Clitocybes, such as Fool’s Funnel (Clitocybe rivulosa) which also grows in rings, although it is generally smaller than the Spotted Blewit.