The wood blemit is a scarce mushroom that grows under both coniferous and deciduous trees in places such as Buskett, limits of Rabat, and the Simar Nature Reserve in Xemxija. It is a saprophytic species that feeds on the fallen leaves of trees.

Like most other mushrooms, wood blemits appear after the autumn rains but continue to be found in winter long after other mushroom species disappear.

This species is found in Europe and North America and has been also been introduced in Australia where it is expanding rapidly.

Wood blemits are edible and are widely collected and cultivated in many parts of Europe

Wood blemits are edible and are widely collected and cultivated in many parts of Europe where they are generally much more common than they are in Malta, which lacks large tracts of woodland. They are very popular in France, Spain and Portugal.

They have a faint smell of aniseed and a pleasant taste especially when cooked. Some individuals are allergic to wood blemits which can give rise to indigestion and more serious problems especially, but not only, if eaten raw.

The wood blemit was first described scientifically by French physician and botanist Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard in 1790. He dedicated much of his time to describing mushrooms and managed to add 393 species to the important science of mycology ­– the study of fungi.

The wood blemit varies in colour from lilac to purple-pink. It usually becomes darker and flatter as it becomes older. Wood blemits can be boiled to make a green dye.

Wood blemits can be propagated by placing the fruiting body (the part seen above ground) in a jar full of hardwood sawdust. After some time the fruiting body can be removed and one just has to wait for mycelia – which look like very thin roots – to start forming.

Once the mycelia start to form, the whole thing can be placed in leaf-rich compost outdoors and then wait for the mushrooms to appear above the ground.

portelli.paul@gmail.com