[5] Previously designated Clitocybe brunneocephala,[2] the brownit and its lavender-colored cousin the wood blewit were reassigned to the genus Collybia in 2023.

[2] The brownit flushes most frequently from December to March,[1][5] and is most commonly observed in California in western North America.

[2] Often found in lawns and open meadows, sometimes in fairy rings, it also turns up under California native oaks and Monterey cypress.

[2] William A. Murrill originally described this species in 1913 as a Melanoleuca, based on a specimen collected by R. A. Harper in Alameda County, California.

[1] There was already a Clitocybe harperi, so the Bigelow gave it a new name suggestive of its brown (brunneo-) head (-cephela).