Pie Azul (Blue foot)

Description:

Family: Tricholomataceae
También conocida como Pie azul.
Hongo que desarrolla cuerpos fructíferos (basidiomas o setas) llamativos por su color azul violáceo de jóvenes. Su sombrero, de 3 – 15 cm, es carnoso, convexo al principio, con el margen enrollado, para hacerse luego casi plano y deprimido en la zona central; su cutícula es lisa y glabra; a veces tiene tonos pardos claros que pueden cubrir todo el sombrero.
Bajo el sombrero se encuentra la parte fértil, el himenio, dispuesto en láminas escotadas, delgadas y juntas, violáceas que se hacen algo pardas y ligeramente decurrentes en la madurez.
El pie, de 7 – 12 x 1 – 2.5 cm, es carnoso y algo fibroso, robusto y con la base ligeramente bulbosa; su superficie suele presentar fibras blanquecinas sobre el fondo violáceo.
La carne es tierna, del mismo color pero más pálida al madurar y olor afrutado.

Clitocybe nuda (also recognized as Lepista nuda and Tricholoma nudum, commonly known as the wood blewit or blue stalk mushroom), is an edible mushroom (cooked), found in both coniferous and deciduous woodlands. It is a fairly distinctive mushroom that is widely eaten, though there is some caution about edibility. Nevertheless it has been cultivated in Britain, Holland and France.
This mushroom can range from lilac to purple-pink. Some North American specimens are duller and tend toward tan, but usually have purplish tones on the stem and gills. The gills are attached to the short, stout stem. Mature specimens have a darker color and flatter cap; younger ones are lighter with more convex caps. Wood blewits have a very distinctive odor, which has been likened by one author to that of frozen orange juice.
Wood blewits can be confused with certain purple Cortinarius species, including the uncommon C. camphoratus,[5] many of which may be poisonous. Cortinarius mushrooms often have the remains of a veil under their caps and a ring-like impression on their stem. Wood blewits can be easily distinguished by their odor, as well as by their spore print. Wood blewits have a light (white to pale pink) spore print; Cortinarius species produce a rusty brown spore print after several hours on white paper. Their brown spores often dust their stems and objects beneath them.

Edibility
Wood blewits are generally regarded as a good edible, but they are known to cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. This is particularly likely if the mushroom is consumed raw, though allergic reactions are known even from cooked blewits. Wood blewits contain the sugar trehalose, which is edible for most people.
Blewits can be eaten as a cream sauce or sautéed in butter, but it is important not to eat them raw, which could lead to indigestion. They can also be cooked like tripe or as omelette filling, and wood blewits also make good stewing mushrooms. They have a strong flavour, so they combine wel with leeks or onions.
Wood blewits can be preserved in olive oil or white vinegar after blanching.
Cultivated wood blewits are said not to taste as good as wild wood blewits.

Habitat:

Cosmopolita. Es una seta que aparece con cierta profusión en el otoño tardío, e incluso se llega a encontrar ya entrado el invierno en algunas zonas. Crece en diversos hábitats, planifolios, pinares, o entre el brezo, frecuente y extendida.
Este fue encontrado a la orilla de un sendero en el cerro el Huinganal, en un tibio día luego de varios días de lluvia sin frío.

Cosmopolitan. This was found on a trail about 1450 m.a.s.l. a warm day after several odd relatively warm rainy days.

Notes:

My brother (in the third image) patiently waited as I took my time to take the pictures. The next time I exclaimed about something, he yelled at me: “It'll better be a POLAR BEAR this time!”