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A note on the blewit
61 Reference WHALLEY, A J S and WATLING, R (1984) An unusual habitat for Daldinia concentrica. Bulletin of the British Mycological Society 18, 126-127.
A NOTE ON THE BLEWIT Tony Baker Mews Cottage, Main Street, Winster, Matlock, Derbyshire The name 'blewit' is commonly applied to two mushrooms, the wood blewit, Lepista nuda, and the field blewit, Lepista saeva, but where does the name come from? The earliest reference that the OED comes up with is from 1830, although previously Sowerby had used the word in his Coloured Figures of English Fungi, 1797-1803: 'This species is sometimes sold at Covent Garden market under the name Blewits for making ketchup'. It must presumably have been familiar prior to this. In his Edible Fungi, 1948, Ramsbottom mentions that a blue dye was at one time extracted from the blewit in the Berwick-upon-Tweed region. Since Sowerby writes in the preface to his work that 'Some fungi I am persuaded would assist in dyeing', I thought that this might be a clue to the word's origin. I wrote to the public librarian in Berwick who kindly sent me two articles from the journal of the local Naturalists' Club. The first, by A W Bartlett, appeared in 1934: in it he states that 'the dyers of Berwick are willing to purchase large quantities of the fungus for the purpose of extracting a blue dye'. Bartlett evidently supplied Ramsbottom with his authority. The second article was published in 1951 and concerned a correspondence which brought to light the fact that 'there never had been a dyeing industry in Berwick within the memory of anyone now living there'. Commenting on this, Ramsbottom wrote to say: 'I think that there can be no doubt the the Tricholoma mushroom was never used to extract the colour from the stem. I think it was a local story, which A W Bartlett heard and believed. You will recollect that I heard it from a local innkeeper at (?) Boulmer and that the servants at a hotel at Alnmouth knew of the story. In spite of the fact that a chemical friend of mine disputed the possibility, I was prepared to accept it on the evidence ... For me, in future, if I mention the dye business, it will be as a local story. ' As far as I know he never did mention the dye trade again, which leaves the origin of 'blewit' as open a question as ever. Can anyone offer a suggestion? Reference History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (1934) Vol.XXVIII,Part 3,245-6; (1951) Vol.XXXlI, Part 2, 129-30.
IS THERE AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN
BOLETUS LIGNICOLA AND PHAEOLUS SCHWEINITZII? R P Brown Glan-yr-Afon, Marli, Abergele, Clwyd Since 1981 Boletus lignicola and Phaeolus schweinitzii have been recorded fruiting together at Bodelwyddan in North Wales. The site is a plantation of about two hundred and fifty Sitka spruce trees (Picea sitchensis). Ten trees in the plantation have been found to be infested with P. schweinitzii. Seven of
A NOTE ON THE BLEWIT Tony Baker Mews Cottage, Main Street, Winster, Matlock, Derbyshire The name 'blewit' is commonly applied to two mushrooms, the wood blewit, Lepista nuda, and the field blewit, Lepista saeva, but where does the name come from? The earliest reference that the OED comes up with is from 1830, although previously Sowerby had used the word in his Coloured Figures of English Fungi, 1797-1803: 'This species is sometimes sold at Covent Garden market under the name Blewits for making ketchup'. It must presumably have been familiar prior to this. In his Edible Fungi, 1948, Ramsbottom mentions that a blue dye was at one time extracted from the blewit in the Berwick-upon-Tweed region. Since Sowerby writes in the preface to his work that 'Some fungi I am persuaded would assist in dyeing', I thought that this might be a clue to the word's origin. I wrote to the public librarian in Berwick who kindly sent me two articles from the journal of the local Naturalists' Club. The first, by A W Bartlett, appeared in 1934: in it he states that 'the dyers of Berwick are willing to purchase large quantities of the fungus for the purpose of extracting a blue dye'. Bartlett evidently supplied Ramsbottom with his authority. The second article was published in 1951 and concerned a correspondence which brought to light the fact that 'there never had been a dyeing industry in Berwick within the memory of anyone now living there'. Commenting on this, Ramsbottom wrote to say: 'I think that there can be no doubt the the Tricholoma mushroom was never used to extract the colour from the stem. I think it was a local story, which A W Bartlett heard and believed. You will recollect that I heard it from a local innkeeper at (?) Boulmer and that the servants at a hotel at Alnmouth knew of the story. In spite of the fact that a chemical friend of mine disputed the possibility, I was prepared to accept it on the evidence ... For me, in future, if I mention the dye business, it will be as a local story. ' As far as I know he never did mention the dye trade again, which leaves the origin of 'blewit' as open a question as ever. Can anyone offer a suggestion? Reference History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club (1934) Vol.XXVIII,Part 3,245-6; (1951) Vol.XXXlI, Part 2, 129-30.
IS THERE AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN
BOLETUS LIGNICOLA AND PHAEOLUS SCHWEINITZII? R P Brown Glan-yr-Afon, Marli, Abergele, Clwyd Since 1981 Boletus lignicola and Phaeolus schweinitzii have been recorded fruiting together at Bodelwyddan in North Wales. The site is a plantation of about two hundred and fifty Sitka spruce trees (Picea sitchensis). Ten trees in the plantation have been found to be infested with P. schweinitzii. Seven of