Clitocybe odora (Bull.) P. Kumm.
Clitocybe the fragrant
The sweet smell of anise that this mushroom gives off makes it stand out in the forest. When young, it has a beautiful blue-green color that turns light gray as it matures. It grows in mixed forests under thick layers of leaves, and it is often its diffuse sweet scent that helps locate it.
Although the color blue in nature is rarely associated with edible species, this mushroom is considered very tasty and is systematically harvested, especially in England and Northern Europe, where it thrives.
The fragrant clitocybe was first described in 1784 by French mycologist Jean Baptiste Francois Pierre Bullliard, who gave it the name Agaricus odorus.
In 1871, German mycologist Paul Kummer transferred the species to the genus Clitocybe, and its name became Clitocybe odora or Clitocybe fragrans, as the name of the species is often translated into Greek.
The name of the genus Clitocybe comes from the Greek klitys = slope + kybe = head, and the characteristic adjective of the species odora comes from the Latin odor, odoris = smell, scent.
In Kythira, I found it in a pine forest and, as I mentioned in a previous post, the people of Tsirigoto avoid picking mushrooms under pine trees.
