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Edible mushrooms. List of forest edible mushrooms with photos, names and descriptions

Anyone who does not understand mushrooms is limited to buying them in the supermarket. After all, champignons and oyster mushrooms grown under the artificial sun inspire more confidence than unknown natural gifts. But true mushroom pickers will not be able to be satisfied with the taste of fruits that have not smelled of pine needles and have not been washed with morning dew. And it’s very difficult to deny yourself forest walks on a clear weekend. Therefore, let's take a closer look at the external signs of popular edible mushrooms in our region.

Main characteristics of edible mushrooms

Everything is biological and ecological diversity planetary scale mushrooms are simply impossible to cover. This is one of the largest specific groups of living organisms, which has become an integral part of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Modern scientists know many species of the mushroom kingdom, but today there is no exact figure in any scientific source. In different literature, the species number of mushrooms varies from 100 thousand to 1.5 million. It is characteristic that each species is divided into classes, orders, and also has thousands of generic names and synonyms. Therefore, it is easy to get lost here, just like in the forest.

Did you know? Contemporaries consider the most unusual mushroom in the world to be Plasmodium, which grows in middle lane Russia. This creation of nature can walk. True, it moves at a speed of 1 meter every few days.

Edible mushrooms are considered to be those specimens that are approved for consumption and do not pose any risks to human health. They differ from poisonous forest fruits in the structure of the hymenophore, the color and shape of the fruiting body, as well as the smell and taste. Their peculiarity lies in their high gastronomic properties. It’s not for nothing that among mushroom pickers there are parallel names for mushrooms - “vegetable meat” and “forest protein”. It has been scientifically proven that such gifts of nature are rich:

proteins;
amino acids;
mycosis and glycogen (specific mushroom sugar);
potassium;
phosphorus;
gray;
magnesium;
sodium;
calcium;
chlorine;
vitamins (A, C, PP, D, all group B);
enzymes (represented by amylase, lactase, oxidase, zymase, protease, cytase, which are of particular importance because they improve the absorption of food).

Many types of mushrooms in their nutritional value compete with potatoes, vegetables and fruits traditional for the Ukrainian table. Their significant drawback is the poorly digestible shells of mushroom bodies. That is why dried and ground fruits bring the greatest benefit to the human body.

Did you know? Of the entire mushroom kingdom, the rarest specimen is considered to be the mushroom Chorioactis geaster, which translated means “devil’s cigar.” It occurs in isolated cases only in central zones Texas and some islands of Japan. Unique feature This natural miracle is a specific whistle that is heard when the mushroom releases spores.

Soviet scientists, based on the nutritional characteristics of mushrooms, divided the edible group into 4 varieties:

Boletuses, saffron milk caps and milk mushrooms.
Birch boletus, aspen boletus, oak boletus, buttercup, trumpet mushroom, white mushroom and champignon.
Moss mushrooms, valui, russula, chanterelles, morels and autumn honey mushrooms.
Rowers, raincoats and other little-known, rarely collected specimens.

Today this classification is considered a little outdated. Modern botanists agree that dividing mushrooms into food categories is ineffective and scientific literature provide an individual description of each type. Beginning mushroom pickers should learn the golden rule “ quiet hunt": one poisonous mushroom capable of ruining all the forest trophies in the basket. Therefore, when detected among harvested any inedible fruit, throw all contents into the trash without regret. After all, the risks of intoxication cannot be compared with the time and effort spent.

Edible mushrooms: photos and names

Of the entire variety of edible mushrooms known to mankind, there are only a few thousand. At the same time, the lion's share of them went to representatives of fleshy micromycetes. Let's look at the most popular types.

Did you know? Real mushroom giants were found by Americans in 1985 in the states of Wisconsin and Oregon. The first find was striking with its 140-kilogram weight, and the second with the area of the mycelium, which occupied about a thousand hectares.

In botanical literature this forest trophy is designated as or ( Boletus edulis). In everyday life it is called pravdivtsev, dubrovnik, shirak and belas.
The variety belongs to the Boletaceae genus and is considered the best of all known edible mushrooms. In Ukraine it is not uncommon and occurs from early summer to mid-autumn in deciduous and coniferous forests. Often, boletus can be found under birch, oak, hornbeam, hazel, spruce and pine trees.

It is characteristic that you can find both squat specimens with a small cap, and broad-legged ones, in which the leg is four times smaller than the upper part. Classic variations of boletus mushrooms are:

a cap with a diameter of 3 to 20 cm, a hemispherical, convex shape, brown in color with a smoky or reddish tint (the color of the cap largely depends on the place where the fungus grows: under pine trees it is purple-brown, under oak trees - chestnut or olive green, and under birch trees - light brown);
leg from 4 to 15 cm long with a volume of 2-6 cm, club-shaped, cream-colored with a grayish or brown tint;
white mesh on the top of the leg;
the flesh is dense, juicy, white, and does not change when cut;
fusiform spores of yellowish-olive color, about 15-18 microns in size;
a tubular layer of light and greenish tones (depending on the age of the mushroom), which is easily separated from the cap;
The smell at the cutting site is pleasant.

Important! Boletuses are often confused with bitterlings. These are inedible mushrooms that are distinguished by pinkish spores, a black mesh on the stem and bitter pulp.

It is worth noting that the skin of true porcini mushrooms is never removed from the cap. In Ukraine, industrial harvesting of these forest trophies is carried out only in the Carpathian region and Polesie. They are suitable for fresh consumption, drying, canning, salting, and pickling. ethnoscience advises introducing belas into the diet for angina, tuberculosis, frostbite, loss of strength and anemia.

Volnushka

These trophies are considered conditionally edible. They are used for food only by residents of the northern regions of the globe, and Europeans do not recognize them as food. Botanists call these mushrooms Lactárius torminósus, and mushroom pickers call them tormentos, decoctions and rubellas. They represent the Russula family of the genus Mlechnik, and are pink and white.

Pink waves are characterized by:

cap with a diameter of 4 to 12 cm, with a deep depression in the center and convex, pubescent edges, pale pink or grayish in color, which darkens when touched;
leg about 3-6 cm high with a diameter of 1 to 2 cm, cylindrical in shape, powerful and elastic structure with specific pubescence on a pale pink surface;
cream or white spores;
the plates are frequent and narrow, which are always interspersed with intermediate membranes;
the pulp is dense and hard, white in color, does not change when cut and is characterized by abundant, sharp-tasting juice secretion.

Important! Mushroom pickers should pay attention to the fact that mushrooms are characterized by variability, which depends on their age. For example, the caps can change their color from yellow-orange to light green, and the plates can change from pinkish to yellow.

White waves are different:

a cap with a diameter of 4 to 8 cm with white, densely pubescent skin (in older specimens its surface is smoother and yellower);
stem with a height of 2 to 4 cm with a volume of up to 2 cm, cylindrical in shape with slight hairiness, dense structure and uniform color;
the pulp is slightly aromatic, white, with a dense but brittle structure;
white or cream-colored spores;
the plates are narrow and frequent;
white milky juice, which does not change when interacting with oxygen and is characterized by causticity.

Most often they grow in groups under birch trees, on forest edges, and rarely in coniferous forests. They are collected from early August to mid-autumn. Any cooking requires careful soaking and blanching. These mushrooms are used for preservation, drying, and pickling.

Important! Edible volnushki can be easily distinguished from other milky mushrooms by the hairiness on the cap.

But in the latter version, the pulp becomes brown, which does not look aesthetically pleasing. Undercooked specimens are toxic and can cause digestive tract disorders and irritation of the mucous membranes. In salted form they are allowed to be consumed no earlier than an hour after salting.

The variety also represents the Russula family of the Mlechnikov genus. In scientific sources, the mushroom is designated Lactárius résimus, but in everyday life it is called real.
Externally, this mushroom is characterized by:

a funnel-shaped cap with a diameter of 5 to 20 cm with highly fleecy edges turned inward, with a wet, mucous skin of a milky or yellowish color;
stalk up to 7 cm high with a volume up to 5 cm, cylindrical in shape, yellowish in color, with a smooth surface and hollow interior;
firm white pulp with a specific fruity smell;
yellow spores;
plates frequent and wide, white-yellow;
milky juice, pungent in taste, white in color, which changes to dirty yellow in the cut areas.

The milk mushroom season occurs from July to September. For them to bear fruit, +8-10 °C on the ground surface is sufficient. The mushroom is common in the northern part of the Eurasian continent and is considered completely unsuitable for food purposes in the West. Most often found in deciduous and mixed forests. In cooking it is used for pickling. Beginning mushroom pickers may confuse the trophy with a violin, a white wave and a loader.

Important! Milk mushrooms are characterized by variability: old mushrooms become hollow inside, their plates turn yellow, and brown spots may appear on the cap.

This bright mushroom with a peculiar shape is found on postage stamps Romania, Moldova, Belarus. Real fox(Cantharellus cibarius) represents the genus Cantharelaceae.
Many people recognize her by:

cap - with a diameter of 2.5 to 5 cm, which is characterized by asymmetrical bulges at the edges and a watering can-shaped depression in the center, a yellow tint and a smooth surface;
stem - short (up to 4 cm in height), smooth and solid, identical in color to the cap;
spores - their size does not exceed 9.5 microns;
plates - narrow, folded, bright yellow in color;
pulp - is dense and elastic, white or slightly yellowish, with a pleasant aroma and taste.

Experienced mushroom pickers have noticed that true mushrooms, even overripe ones, are not spoiled by the wormhole. Mushrooms grow quickly in a humid environment; in the absence of rain, the development of spores stops. It is not difficult to find such trophies throughout Ukraine; their season starts in July and lasts until November. It is best to go searching in moss-covered, damp, but well-lit areas with weak grass cover.

Important! Real chanterelles are often confused with their counterparts. Therefore, when harvesting it is necessary Special attention pay attention to the color of the trophy's flesh. In pseudo-chanterelles it is yellow-orange or pale pink.

Please note that this species is not found on forest edges. In cooking, chanterelles are usually consumed in fresh, pickled, salted and dried forms. They have a specific aroma and taste. Experts note that this variety exceeds all mushrooms known to mankind in terms of carotene composition, but is not recommended in large quantities because it is difficult to digest in the body.

In the scientific literature, oyster mushrooms are simultaneously called oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatu) and belong to the predatory species. The fact is that their spores are capable of paralyzing and digesting nematodes living in the soil. In this way, the body compensates for its nitrogen needs. In addition, the variety is considered wood-destroying, since it grows in groups on stumps and trunks of weakened living plants, as well as on dead wood.
It can most often be found on oaks, birches, rowan trees, willows, and aspens. As a rule, these are dense bunches of 30 or more pieces, which grow together at the base and form multi-tiered growths. Oyster mushrooms can be easily recognized by the following characteristics:

the cap reaches about 5-30 cm in diameter, very fleshy, rounded ear-shaped with wavy edges (in young specimens it is convex, and in mature age becomes flat), smooth glossy surface and unstable peculiar tonality, which borders on ashen, violet-brown and faded dirty yellow shades;
mycelial plaque is present only on the skin of mushrooms that grow in a humid environment;
leg up to 5 cm long and 0.8-3 cm thick, sometimes almost invisible, dense, cylindrical in structure;
the plates are sparse, up to 15 mm wide, have bridges near the legs, their color varies from white to yellow-gray;
spores are smooth, colorless, elongated, up to 13 microns in size;
The pulp becomes more elastic with age and loses its juiciness, it is fibrous, has no smell, and has an anise flavor.

Did you know? In 2000, a Ukrainian mycelium hunter from Volyn, Nina Danilyuk, managed to find a giant boletus mushroom that did not fit in a bucket and weighed about 3 kg. Its leg reached 40 cm, and the circumference of the cap was 94 cm.

Due to the fact that old oyster mushrooms are characterized by rigidity, only young mushrooms whose caps do not exceed a 10-centimeter diameter are suitable for food. In this case, the legs are removed from all trophies. The oyster mushroom hunting season begins in September and in favorable conditions weather conditions lasts until the New Year. This species cannot be confused with anything in our latitudes, but for Australians there is a risk of putting the poisonous omphalotus in the basket.

This is the popular name for a certain group of mushrooms that grow on living or dead wood. They belong to different families and genera, and also differ in their preferences for living conditions.
Autumn honey mushrooms are most often used for food purposes. ( Armillaria mellea), which represent the Physalacriaceae family. According to various estimates by scientists, they are classified as conditionally edible or generally inedible. For example, honey mushrooms are not in demand among Western gourmets and are considered a low-value product. And in Eastern Europe, these are one of the favorite trophies of mushroom pickers.

Important! Undercooked honey mushrooms cause allergic reactions and severe eating disorders in people.

Honey mushrooms are easily recognizable by external signs. They have:

the cap develops up to 10 cm in diameter, is characterized by a convexity at a young age and a flatness at a mature age, it has a smooth surface and a greenish-olive coloring;
the leg is solid, yellow-brown, from 8 to 10 cm long with a volume of 2 cm, with small flocculent scales;
the plates are sparse, white-cream in color, darkening with age to pinkish-brown shades;
spores are white, up to 6 microns in size, have the shape of a wide ellipse;
the pulp is white, juicy, with a pleasant aroma and taste, on the caps it is dense and fleshy, and on the stem it is fibrous and rough.

The honey mushroom season begins at the end of summer and lasts until December. September is particularly productive, when forest fruits appear in several layers. It is best to look for trophies in damp forest areas under the bark of weakened trees, on stumps, and dead plants.

They love the wood left after cutting: birch, elm, oak, pine, alder and aspen. In particularly fruitful years, there is a night glow of stumps, which is emitted by group growths of honey mushrooms. For food purposes, the fruits are salted, pickled, fried, boiled and dried.

Important! When collecting honey mushrooms, be careful. The color of their cap depends on the soil in which they grow. For example, those specimens that appear on poplar, mulberry and white acacia are distinguished by honey-yellow tones, those that grow from elderberry are dark gray, those from conifers are purple-brown, and those from oak are brown. Edible honey mushrooms are often confused with false mushrooms. Therefore, only those fruits that have a ring on the stem should be placed in the basket.

Most mushroom pickers prefer green moss mushrooms (Xerócomus subtomentosus), which are the most common of their kind. Some botanists classify them as boletus mushrooms.
These fruits are characterized by:

a cap with a maximum diameter of up to 16 cm, a cushion-shaped convexity, a velvety surface and a smoky olive color;
the leg is cylindrical, up to 10 cm high and up to 2 cm thick, with a fibrous dark brown mesh;
brown spores, up to 12 microns in size;
The pulp is snow-white; upon contact with oxygen it may acquire a slight blue tint.

To hunt for this species, you should go to deciduous and mixed forests. They also grow along the edges of roads, but such specimens are not recommended for consumption. The fruiting period lasts from late spring to late autumn. The harvested fruit is best eaten freshly prepared. When dried it turns black.

Did you know? Although fly agarics are considered very poisonous, they contain much less toxic substances than the toadstool. For example, to obtain a lethal concentration of mushroom poison, you need to eat 4 kg of fly agarics. And one toadstool is enough to poison 4 people.

Among the edible varieties of boletus, white, swamp, yellow, Bollini, and larch species are popular. In our latitudes, the latter variation is especially popular.
She is characterized by:

cap up to 15 cm in diameter, convex in shape, with a bare sticky surface of lemon yellow or rich yellow-orange color;
the stem is up to 12 cm high and 3 cm wide, club-shaped, with granular-mesh fragments at the top, as well as a ring, its color exactly matches the tone of the cap;
spores are smooth, pale yellow, ellipsoidal, up to 10 microns in size;
the flesh is yellow with a lemon tint, brownish under the skin, soft, juicy with hard fibers; in old mushrooms, the cuts turn a little pink.

The season lasts from July to September. The species is very common in the countries of the Northern Hemisphere. Most often found in groups in deciduous forests where the soil is acidic and enriched. In cooking, these forest trophies are used for making soups, frying, salting, and pickling.

Did you know? Truffles are considered the most expensive mushrooms in the world. In France, the price per kilogram of this delicacy never falls below 2 thousand euros..

This mushroom is also popularly called blackhead and. In botanical literature it is designated as Léccinum scábrum and represents the genus Obabok.
He is recognized by:

a cap with a specific color that varies from white to gray-black;
club-shaped leg, with oblong dark and light scales;
white pulp that does not change when in contact with oxygen.

Young specimens are tastier. You can find them in summer and autumn in birch thickets. They are suitable for frying, boiling, pickling and drying.

Represents a family and includes about fifty species. Most of them are considered edible. Some varieties have a bitter aftertaste, which is lost with careful pre-soaking and cooking of forest products.
Of the entire mushroom kingdom, russula stands out:

the cap is spherical or prostrate (in some specimens it may be in the form of a funnel), with rolled, ribbed edges, dry skin of different colors;
a cylindrical leg, with a hollow or dense structure, white or colored;
the plates are frequent, brittle, yellowish in color;
spores of white and dark yellow tones;
the pulp is spongy and very fragile, white in young mushrooms and dark, as well as reddish in old ones.

Important! Russulas with caustic, burning pulp are poisonous. A small piece of raw fruit can cause severe irritation of the mucous membranes, vomiting and dizziness..

Fruiting for these representatives of the Obabok genus begins in early summer and lasts until mid-September. They are most often found in damp areas under shady trees. Rarely can such a trophy be found in coniferous forests. Boletuses are popular in Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, Western Europe and North America.
The signs of this forest fruit are:

a hemispherical cap, up to 25 cm in circumference, with a bare or fleecy surface of a white-pink color (sometimes there are specimens with brown, bluish and greenish shades of the peel);
the leg is club-shaped, tall, white with brown-gray scales that appear over time;
brown spores;
the tubular layer is white-yellow or gray-brown;
the pulp is juicy and fleshy, white or yellow color, sometimes blue-green, upon contact with oxygen it very soon acquires a bluish tint, after which it turns black (it turns purple in the stem).

Most often collected for marinades, drying, as well as for frying and boiling.

Did you know? It has been scientifically proven that mushrooms existed about 400 million years ago. This means that they appeared before dinosaurs. Like ferns, these gifts of nature were one of the most ancient inhabitants of the globe. Moreover, their spores were able to adapt to new conditions for thousands of years, preserving all ancient species to this day.

These edible representatives of the Russula family have captivated all mushroom pickers with their specific taste. In everyday life they are called ridz or, and in scientific literature - Lactarius deliciosus.
The harvest should be done between August and October. Often such trophies are found in damp forest areas. In Ukraine, these are Polesie and the Carpathian region. Signs of saffron milk caps are:

cap with a diameter of 3 to 12 cm, watering can-shaped, sticky to the touch, gray-orange in color, with clear concentric stripes;
the plates are deep orange and begin to turn green when touched;
spores are warty, up to 7 microns in size;
the stem is very dense, exactly matches the cap in color, reaches up to 7 cm in length, and up to 2.5 cm in volume, becomes hollow with age;
the flesh is yellow in the cap and white in the stem; when exposed to oxygen, the cut areas turn green;
The milky juice is purple-orange (it turns dirty green after a few hours) and has a pleasant smell and taste.

In cooking, saffron milk caps are boiled, fried, and salted.

Did you know? A natural antibiotic, lactarioviolin, was found in saffron milk caps..

In France they call absolutely all mushrooms. Therefore, linguists tend to think that Slavic name A whole genus of organisms from the Agarikov family is of French origin.
Champignons have:

the cap is massive and dense, hemispherical in shape, which becomes flat with age, white or dark brown, up to 20 cm in diameter;
the plates are initially white, which turn gray with age;
leg up to 5 cm high, dense, club-shaped, always having a one- or two-layer ring;
the pulp, which comes in all sorts of shades of white, when exposed to oxygen becomes yellow-red, juicy, with a pronounced mushroom smell.

In nature, there are about 200 types of champignons. But they all develop only on a substrate enriched with organic substances. They can also be found on anthills and dead bark. It is characteristic that some mushrooms can grow only in the forest, others - exclusively among grasses, and still others - in desert areas.

Important! When collecting champignons, pay attention to their plates. This is the only important sign by which they can be distinguished from poisonous representatives of the Amanitov genus. In the latter, this part remains invariably white or lemon throughout their lives..

In the nature of the Eurasian continent, there is a small species diversity of such trophies. Mushroom pickers should only beware of yellow-skinned (Agaricus xanthodermus) and variegated (Agaricus meleagris) champignons. All other types are non-toxic. They are even mass-cultivated on an industrial scale.

Outwardly, these fruits are very unattractive, but in terms of their taste they are considered a valuable delicacy. In everyday life they are called “earth heart”, since they can be located underground at a depth of half a meter. They are also the “black diamonds of cooking.” Botanists classify truffles as a separate genus of marsupial fungi with an underground fleshy and juicy fruiting body. In cooking, the Italian, Perigord and winter varieties are most valued.
They mainly grow in oak and beech forests in Southern France and Northern Italy. In Europe, specially trained dogs and pigs are used for “silent hunting”. Experienced mushroom pickers advise paying attention to flies - in places where they swarm, there will probably be an earthen heart under the foliage.

You can recognize the most valuable fruit by the following signs:

the fruiting body is potato-shaped, with a diameter of 2.5 to 8 cm, with a weak pleasant odor and large pyramidal protrusions with a diameter of up to 10 mm, olive-black in color;
the pulp is white or yellow-brown with clear light veins, tastes like roasted sunflower seeds sunflowers or nuts;
ellipsoidal spores develop only in humus substrate.

Truffles form mycorrhizae with the rhizomes of oak, hornbeam, hazel, and beech. Since 1808, they have been cultivated for industrial purposes.

Did you know? According to statistics, the world's truffle harvest is decreasing every year. On average, it does not exceed 50 tons.

This is a species of edible mushroom from the genus Lentinula. They are very widespread in East Asia. They got their name from growing on chestnut trees. Translated from Japanese, the word means “chestnut mushroom.” In cooking, it is used in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai cuisines as a gourmet spice. In oriental medicine there are also many recipes for treatment with these fruits.
In everyday life, the mushroom is also called oak, winter, black. It is characteristic that in the world market shiitake is considered the second important mushroom that is cultivated industrially. It is quite possible to grow a delicacy in climatic conditions Ukraine. To do this, it is important to acquire an artificial mushroom substrate.

When collecting shiitake, you need to focus on the following characteristics of the mushroom:

a hemispherical cap, up to 29 cm in diameter, with a dry, velvety skin of coffee or brownish-brown color;
the plates are white, thin and thick, in young specimens they are protected by a membrane covering, and when squeezed they become dark brown;
the leg is fibrous, cylindrical, up to 20 cm high and up to 1.5 cm thick, with a smooth light brown surface;
white ellipsoidal spores;
the flesh is dense, fleshy, juicy, creamy or snow-white color, with a pleasant aroma and a pronounced specific taste.

Did you know? The increased interest in shiitake on the world market is due to its antitumor effect. The main consumer of this delicacy is Japan, which annually imports about 2 thousand tons of the product.

The mushroom belongs to the Boletaceae family. In everyday life it is called bruise, poddubnik, dirty brown. The fruiting period begins in July and lasts until late autumn. August is considered the most productive. To search, you should go to forest areas where there are oaks, hornbeams, beeches, and birches. They also prefer calcareous soil and well-lit areas. These forest fruits are known in the Caucasus, Europe and the Far East.
The signs of the mushroom are:

cap with a diameter of 5 to 20 cm, semicircular in shape, with olive-brown velvety skin that darkens when touched;
the pulp is dense, odorless, with a mild taste, yellow in color (purple at the base of the stem);
the plates are yellow, about 2.5-3 cm long, green or olive in color;
the leg is club-shaped, up to 15 cm high with a volume up to 6 cm, yellow-orange in color;
spores are olive-brown, smooth, fusiform.

Experienced mushroom pickers advise paying attention to the color of the oak mushroom cap. It is highly variable and can vary between red, yellow, brown, brown and olive tones. These fruits are considered conditionally edible. They are prepared for marinades and drying.

Important! If you eat undercooked or raw oak, severe poisoning can occur. It is strictly contraindicated to combine this product of any degree of culinary processing with alcoholic beverages.

Edible varieties of these fruits must undergo thorough boiling. They differ from poisonous specimens in their bright color and not too tart odor. Most often used for filling pies, and also consumed freshly prepared.
Experienced mushroom pickers advise going on a “quiet hunt” from the beginning of July to the second half of October. To improve the taste of talkers, only the caps of young fruits are used for food. You can recognize them by:

a bell-shaped cap with a circumference of up to 22 cm, with folded edges and a tubercle in the middle, a smooth surface of a matte or red color;
stem up to 15 cm high, with a dense structure, cylindrical shape and corresponding cap color scheme(there are darker shades at the base);
medium thick brown plates;
The pulp is fleshy, dry, with a weak almond aroma, white in color, which does not change when cut.

Important! Pay attention to the skin of the talker's cap. Poisonous fruits always have a characteristic powdery coating on it.

Many novice mushroom pickers are always impressed by the appearance of bigheads. These trophies stand out very favorably against the background of their counterparts due to their impressive size and shape.
They have:

the fruiting body is large, can develop up to 20 cm in diameter, has a non-standard club-shaped shape, which hardly fits into generally accepted ideas about mushrooms;
the leg can also reach 20 cm in height, it can be larger or smaller than the cap, its color is in harmony with the top;
The pulp is loose, white in color.

Only young fruits, which are distinguished by light shades of the fruiting body, are suitable for culinary purposes. With age, the cap darkens and cracks appear on it. You can harvest bigheads in any forest area. Some young mushrooms are very similar to puffballs. But such confusion is not dangerous to health, since both varieties are edible. Mushroom season begins in the second ten days of July and lasts until the coldest weather. It is better to dry the collected trophies.

Did you know? Mushrooms can survive at an altitude of 30 thousand meters above sea level, withstand radioactive radiation and pressure of 8 atmospheres. They also take root easily even on the surface of sulfuric acid.

He is a representative of the Borovikov family. In everyday life it is referred to as the yellow gill or yellow boletus. Very common in Polesie, Carpathian region and Western Europe. It is considered a heat-loving variety of Boletaceae. It can be found in oak, hornbeam, and beech plantings with high air humidity and clay substrate.
Externally the mushroom is characterized by:

a cap with a diameter of 5 to 20 cm, a convex shape, which becomes flat with age, with a smooth matte clay-colored surface;
heavy pulp, with a dense structure, white or light yellow color, which does not change when cut, with a pleasant, slightly sweet taste and a specific smell, reminiscent of iodoform;
leg with a rough surface, up to 16 cm high, up to 6 cm in volume, club-shaped, without mesh;
tubular layer up to 3 cm in size, yellow in early age and olive-lemon - in mature;
spores of yellow-olive color, up to 6 microns in size, fusiform and smooth.

Semi-white mushrooms are often prepared for preparing marinades and drying. It is important to thoroughly boil the harvested crop before use - then the unpleasant smell disappears.

Did you know? The history of mushrooms records a fact when Swiss mushroom pickers accidentally stumbled upon a huge trophy that had been growing for a thousand years. This giant honey fungus measured 800 m in length and 500 m in width, and its mycelium occupied 35 hectares of local national park in the city of Ofenpass.

Basic rules for picking mushrooms

Mushroom hunting has its risks. In order not to be exposed to them, you need to clearly understand that it is extremely important to be able to collect mushrooms and understand their varieties.
To safely harvest forest trophies, you need to follow these rules:

To search, go to environmentally friendly areas, away from noisy highways and production assets.
Never put items in your cart that you are not sure about. In this case, it is better to seek help from experienced mushroom pickers.
Under no circumstances should samples be taken from raw fruits.
During a “silent hunt,” minimize touching your hands oral cavity and face.
Do not take mushrooms that have a white tuberous formation at the base.
Compare found trophies with their toxic counterparts.
Visually evaluate the entire fruit: stem, plates, cap, pulp.
Do not delay cooking the harvested crop. It is better to immediately carry out the planned processing, because every hour the mushrooms lose their value.
Never drink water in which mushrooms have been boiled. It may contain many toxic substances.
Remove copies damaged by the wormhole, as well as those that have any damage.
Only young fruits should fall into the mushroom picker’s basket.
All trophies should be cut, not pulled out.
The best time for “silent hunting” is considered to be early morning.
If you go mushroom picking with children, do not lose sight of them and explain to the kids in advance about the potential danger of forest gifts.

Did you know? Soft mushroom caps can break through asphalt, concrete, marble and iron.

Video: rules for picking mushrooms

First aid for poisoning

Mushroom poisoning is indicated by:

nausea;
vomit;
headache;
abdominal cramps;
diarrhea (up to 15 times a day);
weakened heartbeat;
hallucinations;
cold extremities.

Similar symptoms can occur within one and a half to two hours after eating mushrooms. When intoxicated, it is important not to waste time. It is necessary to immediately call an ambulance and provide the victim with drinking plenty of fluids. Allowed to drink cold water or cold strong tea. It is recommended to take activated carbon tablets or Enterosgel.

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There are not many plants growing in the northern, western and central regions of the USSR, but to avoid poisoning, you need to know them well.

Inedible tubular mushrooms include the following.

The gall mushroom is a double of the porcini mushroom.

It is inedible due to its very bitter taste and appears to be somewhat poisonous. Grows in July - September on sandy soil in coniferous forests, sometimes on rotten, moss-covered stumps and on the basetree trunks. It has an external resemblance to porcini mushroom and birch mushroom, especially at a young age. But it can be easily distinguished from these edible mushrooms by the dark mesh pattern on the stalk, the dirty pinkish tubular layer, the bitter and slightly pinkish pulp. It's easy to define. You can lightly lick the flesh of the mushroom with your tongue. You will immediately feel a bitter taste.

Pepper mushroom.

Inedible due to the pungent, peppery, burning taste of the pulp. Usually found in coniferous forests. It has some similarities with edible boletus, green moss and goat. It can be recognized by its yellowish-red tubular layer and the acrid bitterness of the pulp.

Pepper mushroom is not edible, but it is not poisonous either.

In the number of lamellar inedible mushrooms includes the following.

False honey is sulfur-yellow and false honey is brick-red.

They are inedible due to their bitter taste, unpleasant odor, and sometimes poisoning occurs. These mushrooms grow, like autumn mushrooms, on stumps and rotten wood, at the base of tree trunks and on the roots in large colonies and in shape similar to autumn honey fungus. However, they can be easily distinguished by the color of their caps, plates and pulp.

The sulfur-yellow false honey fungus has a greenish-yellow or sulfur-yellow cap, with a reddish or red-brownish center. The plates are sulfur-yellow, then olive, and in older ones they are brownish-greenish or olive-yellow. The pulp is yellow.

The false brick-red honey fungus has a brick-red cap with a yellow edge. The plates are first yellowish, then smoky, with a violet-brown tint, and finally black-purple. The pulp of young fungi is white, while that of old ones is yellowish.

Milky gray-pink.

The question of the edibility of this mushroom is not yet entirely clear. In some places it is considered poisonous, but there is no categorical confirmation of this. Grows from July to October. In shape and size, it is similar to the bitter mushroom and grows in the same places as the bitter mushroom, but this mushroom can be easily distinguished from it by its lighter cap, the absence of a tubercle on the cap, the colorless, non-caustic milky juice and the smell of coumarin.

False fox.

This mushroom was previously considered poisonous, but research has not confirmed this. But sinceThe flesh of the false chanterelle is very hard, woody and, in terms of its taste and nutritional qualities, does not represent the value required of the mushroom; it should be considered inedible. The false chanterelle is only similar in shape to the edible chanterelle, but they cannot be confused by color. The color of the cap of the false chanterelle is reddish-orange or orange-yellow. The plates are bright red or orange.

In nature, there are several other types and forms of inedible mushrooms, which are very rare and do not pose a danger, so their descriptions are not given. These include false valuy, alder moth and some others.

Poisonous mushrooms include primarily fly agarics, the use of which causes severe poisoning, often resulting in death. General characteristic signs of fly agarics: they are all

Lamellar, young fungi emerge from the ground enclosed in a common white blanket, the plates are also covered with a white film. As the fungus grows, the common veil breaks and falls to the base of the stalk in the form of a sheath (vagina), and top part it remains on the cap of some species or on individual specimens of the mushroom in the form of scattered small white shreds of cotton. The film with which the plates were closed is torn off from the cap and stored in the middle of the stem or a little closer to the cap, like a white hanging wide ring. The caps are from 10 to 20 cm in diameter, the legs are from 10 to 15 cm long, 1.5 to 3 cm thick, the plates are white, with the exception of the toadstool, which is also slightly yellowish-greenish. The flesh of all is white, with an unpleasant odor. Cap color: stinking fly agaric - white, without flakes; fly agaric toadstool - pale yellow, in some specimens with a greenish tint, less often completely white, with white flakes in the form of patches; fly agaric - bright red, orange, sometimes yellowish, with white small flakes-warts on the surface; porphyry fly agaric - brown, in a variety of shades.

Death cap.

The most poisonous, deadly mushroom. It grows mainly in the southern half of the forest zone, in deciduous forests, often in oak forests, sometimes on the edges and clearings. However, there is information that this mushroom, although rare, is also found in the central regions. The pale grebe has a cap color that is white, greenish, olive green and yellowish.

It is a typical “fly agaric” and differs in appearance from all the edible mushrooms described in this book. However, some inexperienced mushroom pickers sometimes confuse it with edible champignon ordinary, from which it differs in very characteristic features: white plates (in the champignon they are, depending on the age of the mushroom, pink, light brown or blackish), a sac-like sheath at the base of the stalk (which the champignon does not have), a longer stalk (in the champignon it is shorter).

You should also know that overripe, wormy, as well as salted and pickled mushrooms, which were stored for some time in galvanized and glazed clay dishes, are somewhat poisonous, and therefore you can also be poisoned by them.

To avoid poisoning, it is recommended to collect only those mushrooms that do not raise doubts about their edibility; do not collect mushrooms that are overripe, worm-eaten, or severely damaged by rodents and slugs; immediately process mushrooms brought home, otherwise they may become unusable; Do not store salted and pickled mushrooms in galvanized or glazed clay containers.

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Workers at the veterinary and sanitary examination laboratory claim that mushrooms, like a sponge, absorb all the most hazardous substances: exhaust gases, emissions from factories, etc.

Therefore, inedible mushrooms are not always the cause of poisoning. You can also be poisoned by edibles that were collected near the road or factory. How can you guarantee that you are buying safe mushrooms? But due to excessive trust in sellers or lack of necessary knowledge, you can end up in a hospital or even in the next world. Cruel? But it's true. The statistics on mushroom poisoning are frightening.

If you cannot imagine your life without the taste of mushrooms, we strongly recommend that you learn by heart, print it out and repeat every night before going to bed which mushrooms can be eaten and which ones absolutely cannot be eaten. In this article we will present not only a list of dangerous and safe mushrooms, but also demonstrate what they look like.

This article is mail “ tutorial” for a beginner mushroom picker, and a reminder for an experienced one!

Edible mushrooms

Name	Recognition Features	Use
White (boletus)	The cap is up to 20 cm in diameter, the color ranges from almost white to brown. The shape is cushion-shaped and convex. The leg is barrel-shaped, widening downwards. The tubular layer is initially white, then darkens to dark green.	It is consumed boiled, fried, dried, pickled and raw.
Oyster mushroom	The cap has a diameter of 3-6 cm, the largest ones reach 10 cm. The young cap is corymbose, and then with a pit in the center and, finally, funnel-shaped. The color is variable - from white to brown shades. The leg is 6-9 cm long and 2-2.5 cm wide. They grow in bunches and clusters of caps.	Used pickled, dried and cooked.
Talker	The body is small or medium in size. The cap size is 3-6 cm, has a light color from white to grayish-brown. The middle is concave, dry and smooth. The leg has a circumference of 0.5-1 cm and is cylindrical in shape. The plates are light, descending to the stem.	Used for raw cooking, pickling and drying.
Gruzd	The diameter of the cap can reach from 6-28 cm; The color of the cap is usually yellow, brown or slightly golden with a scaly texture. The shape is convex, then straightens or becomes slightly concave. In damp weather the cap is slimy. The leg is from 5 to 12 cm high, hollow inside. The flesh is white and turns yellow when cut.	It is considered a tasty mushroom and is used in cooking after preliminary soaking and boiling.
Dubovik	The cap is 6-22 cm in circumference, from light olive to brown, dark spots remain when pressed. The shape of the hemisphere is less often completely prostrate. The texture of the cap is velvety; in wet weather it can be sticky and slippery. The leg is club-shaped, 5-17 cm tall, red, dark orange or brown in color with greenish spots at the base, and has a reticulate pattern. The leg is thicker at the base. The flesh is yellow and turns blue when cut.	It is undesirable to consume this type of mushroom with alcohol, as this can lead to gastrointestinal disorders. In cooking it is used for pickling and drying after preliminary heat treatment and boiling. The broth must be drained several times before final cooking. If you add citric acid to the marinade, the light color of the pulp will remain. They contain 8 essential amino acids and microelements. Used in all types of culinary dishes.
May	The circumference of the cap is 5-12 cm, off-white, yellow, creamy. The shape is convex, later prostrate, has wavy, cracking edges, flat or has a tubercle, smooth texture, wrinkled during drought. The leg is club-shaped, 4-10 cm high and 0.6-3 cm in diameter, dense and fibrous. The color is whitish, yellowish or brownish-cream. The pulp is white, dense, soft, and has a distinct pleasant sweetish smell and taste.	Suitable for pickling, quite tasty in marinade. Has medicinal properties.
Oiler	The diameter of the cap is 4-16 cm, the color varies from brown-chocolate, gray-olive or yellow-brown, has the shape of a hemisphere, and later becomes prostrate with raised edges. It has a slimy film that is easily separated from the pulp. The leg, 4 to 12 cm high, has a cylindrical shape, usually a lighter shade than the cap. The texture is fibrous and has a filmy white ring. The pulp is juicy, the color ranges from brown to light yellow. Such mushrooms are susceptible to “attacks” of worms.	They can be used in any form if the mucous ball of the cap is removed. Due to its high protein content, the mushroom is a strong allergen.
Mosswort	The diameter of the cap is 4-12 cm, green-gray or olive, can be slightly brown, convex in shape, velvety to the touch. The stem is cylindrical in shape, 3-11 cm in height, widens closer to the cap, often with a brown mesh. The pulp is white; when cut, a blue tint appears.	Suitable for pickles and marinating. Also delicious boiled and fried. Not suitable for drying as it darkens over time. The mushroom can be covered with mold, which can be hazardous to health.
Summer honey mushrooms	The cap is 3-8 cm in diameter, first convex, then flatter in shape, has a tubercle in the center, which has a lighter shade than the edges covered with grooves. It has a brown, light brown color, is slimy, and in damp weather it becomes almost transparent. The height of the stem is 3-9 cm, the shade is lighter than the cap, the texture is dense, it has a clearly visible ring, under which there are scales. The pulp is watery, brown in color, and does not change when cut. The taste and aroma are mild mushroom.	Fresh for cooking, pickled, as a snack, for filling pies.
boletus	The circumference of the cap is 4-12 cm, cushion-shaped, gray, brown, brown, sometimes almost black. The leg is low, 1.5-4 cm in diameter, widened downwards, has a scaly texture, white or grayish in color. The flesh is evenly colored, white, and does not turn red, like that of a gall fungus.	Suitable for all types of culinary processing.
Boletus	The cap is from 5 to 28 cm in diameter, hemispherical in shape, easily separated from the stem, brown or orange with a red tint. The leg is 4-18 cm tall, completely gray or off-white, has fibrous scales along its entire length, turning black over time. The pulp is white, dense, fleshy, turns blue when cut, and then turns black.	Can be used in any form. When boiled, fried and dried, it darkens greatly.
Cobweb	The diameter of the hat is up to 10 cm, white-violet, lilac-silver. The pulp has a blue tint and is thick in the middle.	Tasty raw, salted, after any heat treatment (boiled, fried, stewed).
Ryzhik	The diameter of the cap is 3-9 cm, with a noticeable tubercle in the center. It may have a convex shape with a greenish tint in old mushrooms, depressed or funnel-shaped. The hat is extremely brittle, smooth to the touch, and can be slightly sticky in damp weather. The stem is 3-8 cm high, the color matches the color of the cap, cylindrical in shape, extremely brittle, solid in youth, becoming almost hollow over time. The pulp is orange, quickly turns red at the break point and then turns green. It has a pleasant taste and fruity aroma.	Suitable for realizing all the culinary fantasies of housewives. Not bad for pickling and pickling.
Russula	The hat, with a diameter of 4 to 12 cm, has a spherical shape, which over time becomes almost flat. The color of the cap varies from pink-red, brick or red-brown. In wet weather it is slightly sticky, the edges of the cap are curved inward, often wavy or ribbed. The peel does not completely cover the pulp, which makes it possible to see the plates at the edges; the skin is easily removed only from the edge. The leg is 3-7 cm high, white, pink-rusty or yellow, and has a cylindrical shape. The pulp is dense, fleshy. White color.	They are used fried, boiled, pickled, and also as pickles. Good for filling pies. Some types are suitable for drying. Mushrooms are used for cooking after preliminary boiling.
Champignon	The hat has a circumference of 6-16 cm, white or light brown. The shape resembles a hemisphere and expands over time. The texture is velvety, maybe with small scales. The stem is 4-11 cm high, the color matches the color of the cap, and has a prominent wide ring in the middle. The leg is smooth, thin, slightly widened at the base. The pulp is white, turns pink when cut.	Suitable for any type of culinary processing, except pickles and marinating.

Who should not eat mushrooms?

For children under 12 years of age, eating any type of mushroom can be fraught with poisoning, since their digestive system cannot sufficiently digest this product due to its poor digestibility.

Therefore, it is safer not to give your child dishes with mushrooms at all, since the child’s body may not be able to cope with an extremely difficult task. It's better not to take risks. The child will not lose anything, but he may get poisoned.

Children and elderly people should not eat mushrooms. These age groups are the most difficult to accept this product and are difficult to treat mushroom poisoning.

Inedible and poisonous

Inedible mushrooms differ from poisonous ones in that they do not have a strong negative effect on the body and are not eaten only because of their taste. Poisonous ones have a detrimental effect on the body.

Sharp abdominal pain, cramps, nausea, repeated vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal colic.

Symptoms appear within 30 minutes to 2 hours, or 2 hours to 48 hours.

Conditionally edible. Gorchak ( gall mushroom, false boletus) The cap is 5-15 cm convex in various brown shades. The tubes are white and turn red when pressed. The pulp is white, elastic, fleshy. Turns pink when cut. It should be noted that the taste of the pulp is bitter or has a burning aftertaste. The height of the leg ranges from 7-12 cm, 2-4 cm in diameter, the shape is club-shaped, the color is yellow with ocher, close to the color of the cap. No. Inedible due to strong bitterness. False raincoat The body has a size of 3-5, less often 12 cm. Height is 3-6 cm. The body of the mushroom is ovoid in shape, the stalk is absent. The pulp is light, but darkens greatly with age. Severe stomach upsets, gastrointestinal pain, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, allergies to spores in the form of rhinitis or conjunctivitis. Symptoms appear within 15 minutes to 1 hour. Inedible, slightly poisonous, group 1. False honey fungus sulfur-yellow The hat is from 2-7 cm, resembles a bell to young people, then straightens out. Color yellow-brown or sulfur-yellow. It tastes bitter and smells unpleasant. The leg is 10 cm high and 0.5 cm in diameter, sulfur-yellow in color. Vomiting, nausea, increased sweating, loss of consciousness.

Symptoms appear between 1 and 6 hours.

Poisonous, group 3. Satanic mushroom The cap is from 8-25 cm, at a young age it looks like a hemisphere, in maturity it becomes prostrate. The hat is smooth, white-gray, olive-gray with pinkish streaks. The pulp is white or yellowish. At the fracture site it takes on a blue or red color. Old mushrooms smell like rotten onions, while young mushrooms smell like spices. Leg height 15 cm, circumference 10 cm. A young mushroom has a spherical stem shape, while a mature mushroom has a barrel-shaped stem. The top is yellow-red, the middle is red, the bottom is red-orange. The poison is contained in the cap. Leads to serious food poisoning. Nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, cramps, general weakness. Other symptoms may also appear: hallucinations, emotional instability, loss of self-control and memory, visions, depression, prolonged sleep (up to 72 hours, after which the patient does not remember what happened to him)

The duration of symptoms is up to 3 days.

Symptoms appear within a few hours.

Poisonous, group 1. Line The cap is wrinkled, sinuous, connected to the stem at the edges. It has a color ranging from yellowish-brown to red-brown. The leg is short, 2-3 cm in height, ordinary, hollow inside, white, less often pinkish, in color. Weakness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, jaundice, headache, cramps, liver pain, feeling of heaviness in the stomach.

Symptoms appear after 6-10 hours.

Poisonous. Pig The cap is from 12-20 cm in diameter, usually no more than 15 cm. The color is olive-brown or gray-brown. When it rains, the cap is sticky, and in dry weather it is shaggy. When cut, the flesh darkens. Leg length no more than 9 cm, diameter no more than 2 cm, smooth, matte. The color is the same as the cap or slightly lighter. The pulp is mostly wormy. An antigen that stimulates the production of antibodies. Lectins, accumulates heavy metals and radioactive cesium. Vomiting, indigestion, gastrointestinal pain, pallor, jaundice, difficulty urinating, a sharp decrease in the amount of urine excreted by the kidneys (oligoanuria).

Symptoms appear after 1-3 hours, less often 5-6 hours.

Poisonous. Red champignon The cap has a circumference of 15 cm, first round, then broadly bell-shaped, turning brown with age. The leg is white and thin, has a thickening at the base and a double ring. The pulp is thin and turns yellow where it is cut. The mushroom smells bad. Severe gastrointestinal disorders, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, intestinal discomfort.

Symptoms disappear within 2-4 days. Appears within 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Poisonous, group 1. Patouillard fiberglass The cap is from 3 to 9 cm in diameter, the young mushroom has the shape of a bell, then the cap straightens out in the form of an umbrella, reddish in color, the flesh is white, the taste is peppery, and when cut it changes color to red. The leg is 10 cm high and 1.5 cm in diameter. The color is the same as the cap or a little lighter. Heart rhythm disturbances, low blood pressure, vomiting, diarrhea, chills, breathing problems, lacrimation, sweating, chills and pale skin. Symptoms appear 30 minutes after eating, but not later than 2 hours. Hallucinogenic, poisonous, group 2. Talker It differs in that the cap and the stem are connected. The diameter of the cap is up to 4 cm; when ripe, the edges straighten out and resemble a saucer. The color varies from white, white-gray and pinkish. The cap is covered with a powdery coating. In rainy weather it is slimy. The leg is 4 cm high, 1 cm in diameter. The pulp is white and does not darken when cut. Toxic substances: coprine, acetylcholine, muscarine. Low blood pressure, breathing problems, tachycardia, vomiting, stomach upset.

Symptoms appear 15 minutes after eating it.

Poisonous, group 2.

1 – pale grebe; 2- bitter; 3- false raincoat; 4- fly agaric 5 – Patouillard fibre; 6 – pig; 7 – talker; 8 - false scent brick red

All life on Earth is usually attributed to either the plant or animal world, however, there are special organisms - mushrooms, which for a long time scientists found it difficult to classify them into a specific class. Mushrooms are unique in their structure, mode of life and diversity. They are represented by a huge number of varieties and differ in the mechanism of their existence, even among themselves. Mushrooms were first classified as plants, then as animals, and only recently was it decided to classify them as their own, special kingdom. Mushrooms are neither a plant nor an animal.

What are mushrooms?

Mushrooms, unlike plants, do not contain the pigment chlorophyll, which gives green leaves and extracts nutrients from carbon dioxide. Mushrooms are not able to produce nutrients on their own, but extract them from the object on which they grow: wood, soil, plants. Eating prepared substances brings mushrooms closer to animals. In addition, this group of living organisms vitally needs moisture, so they are not able to exist where there is no liquid.

Mushrooms can be cap, mold and yeast. It is the hat ones that we collect in the forest. Molds- this is the well-known mold, yeast - yeast and similar very small microorganisms. Fungi can grow on living organisms or feed on their waste products. Mushrooms can create mutually beneficial relationships with higher plants and insects, this relationship is called symbiosis. Mushrooms are a must digestive system herbivores. They play a very important role in the life of not only animals, plants, but also humans.

Scheme of the structure of a cap mushroom

Everyone knows that a mushroom consists of a stem and a cap, which is what we cut off when we pick mushrooms. However, this is only a small part of the mushroom, called the “fruiting body”. Based on the structure of the fruiting body, you can determine whether a mushroom is edible or not. The fruiting bodies are made up of intertwined threads called hyphae. If you turn the mushroom over and look at the cap from below, you will notice that some mushrooms have thin plastics there (these are lamellar mushrooms), while others are like a sponge (sponge mushrooms). It is there that the spores (very small seeds) necessary for the reproduction of the fungus are formed.

The fruiting body makes up only 10% of the mushroom itself. The main part of the fungus is the mycelium; it is not visible to the eye because it is located in the soil or tree bark and is also an interweaving of hyphae. Another name for mycelium is “mycelium”. Big square mycelium is necessary for the mushroom to collect nutrients and moisture. In addition, it attaches the fungus to the surface and promotes further spread over it.

Edible mushrooms

The most popular edible mushrooms among mushroom pickers include: porcini mushroom, boletus, boletus, butterfly, moss fly, honey fungus, milk mushroom, russula, chanterelle, saffron milk cap, and trumpet mushroom.

One mushroom can have many varieties, which is why mushrooms with the same name can look different.

White mushroom (boletus) Mushroom pickers adore it for its unsurpassed taste and aroma. It is very similar in shape to a barrel. The cap of this mushroom is pillow-shaped and pale to dark brown in color. Its surface is smooth. The pulp is dense, white, odorless and has a pleasant nutty taste. The stem of the porcini mushroom is very voluminous, up to 5 cm thick, white, sometimes beige in color. Most of it is underground. This mushroom can be collected from June to October in coniferous, deciduous or mixed forests and its appearance depends on where it grows. You can eat white mushroom in any form.

Common boletus

Common boletus (boletus) It is also a rather desirable mushroom for mushroom pickers. His hat is also pillow-shaped and colored either light brown or dark brown. Its diameter is up to 15 cm. The flesh of the cap is white, but may turn slightly pink when cut. The length of the leg is up to 15 cm. It widens slightly downward and has a light gray color with brown scales. The boletus grows in deciduous and mixed forests from June to late autumn. He loves light very much, so most often he can be found on the edges. Boletus can be consumed boiled, fried and stewed.

Boletus

Boletus(redhead) is easily recognized by the interesting color of its cap, reminiscent of autumn foliage. The color of the cap depends on the place of growth. It varies from almost white to yellow-red or brown. At the point where the flesh breaks, it begins to change color, darkening to black. The leg of the boletus is very dense and large, reaching 15 cm in length. In appearance, the boletus differs from the boletus in that it has black spots drawn on its legs, as if horizontally, while the boletus has more vertical spots. This mushroom can be collected from the beginning of summer until October. It is most often found in deciduous and mixed forests, aspen forests and small forests.

Oil can

Oil can has a fairly wide cap, up to 10 cm in diameter. It can be colored from yellow to chocolate, and has a convex shape. The skin can be easily separated from the flesh of the cap and it can be very slimy and slippery to the touch. The pulp in the cap is soft, yellowish and juicy. In young butterflies, the sponge under the cap is covered with a white film; in adults, it leaves a skirt on the leg. The leg has the shape of a cylinder. It is yellow at the top and may be slightly darker at the bottom. Butterwort grows in coniferous forests on sandy soil from May to November. It can be consumed pickled, dried and salted.

Kozlyak

Kozlyak very similar to an old oil can, but the sponge under the cap is darker, with large pores and there is no skirt on the leg.

Mosswort

Mokhoviki have a cushion-shaped cap with velvety skin from brown to dark green. The leg is dense, yellow-brown. The flesh may turn blue or green when cut and has a brown color. The most common are green and yellow-brown moss mushrooms. They have excellent taste qualities and can be consumed fried and dried. Before eating it, be sure to clean the cap. Moss mushrooms grow in deciduous and coniferous forests of temperate latitudes from mid-summer to mid-autumn.

Dubovik

Dubovik grows mainly in oak forests. In appearance, the shape resembles a porcini mushroom, and the color resembles a moss mushroom. The surface of the cap of young mushrooms is velvety; in damp weather it can be mucous. When touched, the cap becomes covered with dark spots. The flesh of the mushroom is yellowish, dense, red or reddish at the base of the stem, turns blue when cut, then turns brown, odorless, mild taste. The mushroom is edible, but it is easily confused with inedible ones: satanic and gall mushrooms. If part of the leg is covered with a dark net, it is not oak, but its inedible double. In olive-brown oak, the flesh immediately turns blue when cut, while in poisonous double slowly changes color, first to red, and then turns blue.

All the mushrooms described above are spongy. Among the sponge fungi, only the gall fungus and satanic mushroom, they look like white, but immediately change color when cut, and the pepper is not edible, because it is bitter, more about them below. But among lamellar mushrooms There are many inedible and poisonous ones, so the child should remember the names and descriptions of edible mushrooms before going on a “silent hunt.”

Honey fungus

Honey fungus grows at the base of trees, and meadow honey fungus grows in meadows. Its convex cap, up to 10 cm in diameter, is yellowish-brown in color and looks like an umbrella. The length of the leg is up to 12 cm. In the upper part it is light and has a ring (skirt), and at the bottom it acquires a brownish tint. The pulp of the mushroom is dense, dry, with a pleasant smell.

Autumn honey fungus grows from August to October. It can be found at the base of both dead and living trees. The cap is brownish, dense, the plates are yellowish, and there is a white ring on the stem. Most often it is found in birch groves. This mushroom can be eaten dried, fried, pickled and boiled.

Autumn honey fungus

Summer honey fungus, like autumn honey fungus, grows on stumps all summer and even in autumn. Its cap along the edge is darker than in the middle and thinner than that of the autumn honey fungus. There is a brown ring on the stem.

Summer honey fungus

Honey fungus has been growing in meadows and pastures since the end of May. Sometimes mushrooms form a circle, which mushroom pickers call a “witch’s ring.”

Honey fungus

Russula

Russula They have a round cap with easily peelable skin at the edges. The cap reaches 15 cm in diameter. The cap can be convex, flat, concave or funnel-shaped. Its color varies from red-brown and blue-gray to yellowish and light gray. The leg is white, fragile. The flesh is also white. Russula can be found in both deciduous and coniferous forests. They also grow in the birch park and on the river bank. The first mushrooms appear in late spring, and the largest number is found in early autumn.

Chanterelle

Chanterelle- an edible mushroom that is pleasant in appearance and taste. Its velvety hat is red in color and resembles a funnel shape with folds along the edges. Its flesh is dense and has the same color as the cap. The cap smoothly transitions into the leg. The leg is also red, smooth, and tapers downwards. Its length is up to 7 cm. The chanterelle is found in deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests. It can often be found in moss and among coniferous trees. It grows from June to November. You can use it in any form.

Gruzd

Gruzd has a concave cap with a funnel in the center and wavy edges. It is dense to the touch and fleshy. The surface of the cap is white and can be covered with fluff; it can be dry or, on the contrary, slimy and wet, depending on the type of milk mushroom. The pulp is brittle and when broken, white juice with a bitter taste is released. Depending on the type of milk mushroom, the juice may turn yellow or pink when scraped. The leg of the milk mushroom is dense and white. This mushroom grows in deciduous and mixed forests, often covered with dry foliage so that it is not visible, but only a mound is visible. You can collect it from the first summer month to September. Milk mushrooms are well suited for pickling. Much less often they are fried or consumed boiled. The breast can also be black, but the black tastes much worse.

White milk mushroom (real)

Dry milk mushroom (podgruzdok)

Aspen mushroom

Black milk mushroom

Volnushka

Volnushki They are distinguished by a small cap with a depression in the center and a beautiful fringe along the slightly turned up edges. Its color varies from yellowish to pink. The pulp is white and dense. This is a conditionally edible mushroom. The juice has a very bitter taste, so before cooking this mushroom, it needs to be soaked for a long time. The leg is dense, up to 6 cm in length. Volnushki love damp areas and grow in deciduous and mixed forests, preferring birch trees. They are best harvested from August to September. Volnushki can be eaten salted and pickled.

Ryzhik

Saffron milk caps they are similar to volnushki, but larger in size, they do not have a fringe along the edges, they are light orange in color, and the flesh when cut is also orange, turning green along the edges. The mushroom does not have bitter juice, so it can be cooked immediately without soaking. The mushroom is edible. Ryzhiki are fried, boiled and pickled.

Champignon

Champignon They grow in the forest, in the city, and even in landfills and basements from summer to autumn. While the mushroom is young, its cap has the shape of a half ball of white or grayish color, the reverse side of the cap is covered with a white veil. When the cap opens, the veil turns into a skirt on a leg, exposing gray plates with spores. Champignons are edible, they are fried, boiled, pickled without any special pre-treatment.

Violin

A mushroom that squeaks slightly when you run a fingernail over it or when the caps are rubbed, many call it a squeaky mushroom. It grows in coniferous and deciduous forests, usually in groups. The violin is similar to a milk mushroom, but unlike the milk mushroom, its plates are cast in a yellowish or greenish color, and the cap may also not be pure white, moreover, it is velvety. The flesh of the mushroom is white, very dense, hard, but brittle, with a faint pleasant odor and a very pungent taste. When broken, it secretes a very caustic white milky juice. The white pulp turns greenish-yellow when exposed to air. The milky sap dries and becomes reddish. Skripitsa is a conditionally edible mushroom; it is edible when salted after soaking.

Valuy (bull) has a light brown cap with whitish plates and a white stem. While the mushroom is young, the cap is curved down and slightly slippery. Young mushrooms are collected and eaten, but only after removing the skin, long-term soaking or boiling of the mushroom.

You can find such fancy mushrooms in the forest and meadow: morel, string, dung beetle, blue-green stropharia. They are conditionally edible, but Lately are being consumed less and less by people. Young umbrella and puffball mushrooms are edible.

Poisonous mushrooms

Inedible mushrooms or food products containing their poisons can cause severe poisoning and even death. The most life-threatening inedible, poisonous mushrooms include: fly agaric, toadstool, false mushrooms.

A very noticeable mushroom in the forest. Its red hat with white specks is visible to the forester from afar. However, depending on the species, the caps can also be of other colors: green, brown, white, orange. The hat is shaped like an umbrella. This mushroom is pretty large sizes. The leg usually widens downward. There is a “skirt” on it. It represents the remains of the shell in which young mushrooms were located. This poisonous mushroom can be confused with golden-red russula. Russula has a cap that is slightly depressed in the center and does not have a “skirt” (Volva).

Pale grebe (green fly agaric) even a small amount can cause great harm human health. Its cap can be white, green, gray or yellowish. But the shape depends on the age of the mushroom. The cap of a young pale grebe resembles a small egg, and over time it becomes almost flat. The stem of the mushroom is white, tapering downward. The pulp does not change at the site of the cut and has no odor. Pale grebe grows in all forests with aluminous soil. This mushroom is very similar to champignons and russula. However, the plates of champignons are usually darker in color, while those of the toadstool are white. Russulas do not have this skirt on the leg, and they are more fragile.

False honey mushrooms can be easily confused with edible honey mushrooms. They usually grow on tree stumps. The cap of these mushrooms is brightly colored, and the edges are covered with white flaky particles. Unlike edible honey mushrooms, the smell and taste of these mushrooms are unpleasant.

Gall mushroom- double of white. It differs from boletus in that the upper part of its stem is covered with a dark mesh, and the flesh turns pink when cut.

Satanic mushroom also similar to white, but its sponge under the cap is reddish, there is a red mesh on the leg, and the cut becomes purple.

Pepper mushroom looks like a flywheel or oil can, but the sponge under the cap is purple.

False fox- an inedible counterpart to the chanterelle. The color of the false chanterelle is darker, reddish-orange, and white juice is released at the break of the cap.

Both the moss fly and the chanterelles also have inedible counterparts.

As you understand, mushrooms are not only those that have a cap and a stem and that grow in the forest.

Yeasts are used to create some drinks, using them during the fermentation process (for example, kvass). Molds are a source of antibiotics and save millions of lives every day. Special types of mushrooms are used to give products, such as cheeses, a special taste. They are also used to create chemicals.
Fungal spores, through which they reproduce, can germinate in 10 years or more.
There are also predatory species of mushrooms that feed on worms. Their mycelium forms dense rings, once caught, it is no longer possible to escape.
The oldest mushroom found in amber is 100 million years old.
An interesting fact is that leaf-cutter ants are able to independently grow the mushrooms they need for nutrition. They acquired this ability 20 million years ago.
There are about 68 species of luminous mushrooms in nature. They are most often found in Japan. Such mushrooms are distinguished by the fact that they glow green in the dark; this looks especially impressive if the mushroom grows in the middle of rotten tree trunks.
Some fungi cause serious diseases and affect agricultural plants.

Mushrooms are mysterious and very interesting organisms, full of unsolved secrets and unusual discoveries. Edible species are a very tasty and healthy product, while inedible ones can cause great harm to health. Therefore, it is important to be able to distinguish them and you should not put a mushroom in the basket that you are not completely sure about. But this risk does not prevent one from admiring their diversity and beauty against the backdrop of blooming nature.

The forest areas of Russia are very rich in mushrooms, and residents do not miss the opportunity to take advantage of this gift of nature. Traditionally, they are fried, pickled or dried. But the danger lies in the fact that many poisonous species skillfully disguise themselves as edible mushrooms. This is why it is important to know the characteristics of the varieties that are approved for consumption.

Mushrooms are not only tasty, but also very healthy food. They contain substances such as salts, glycogen, carbohydrates, as well as vitamins of groups A, B, C, D. If the mushrooms are young, then they also contain many microelements: calcium, zinc, iron, iodine. Their intake has a beneficial effect on the body’s metabolic processes, increased appetite, and work nervous system And gastrointestinal tract.

In fact, there are no exact criteria by which one can distinguish safe mushrooms from poisonous ones. Only existing knowledge about appearance, characteristics and names of each species.

Characteristics of edible mushrooms

General criteria for edible mushrooms include:

No sharp bitter smell or taste;
They are not characterized by very bright and catchy colors;
Typically the inner flesh is light in color;
Most often they do not have a ring on the stem.

But all these signs are only averaged, and may have exceptions. For example, one of the most poisonous representatives white grebe It also has no pungent odor at all and its flesh is light.

Another important point in this matter is the growing area. Usually edible species grow away from them dangerous doubles. Therefore, a proven harvest location can significantly reduce the risk of encountering poisonous mushrooms.

Common Misconceptions

There are many popular signs and non-standard ways of determining the safety of mushrooms. Here are the most common misconceptions:

Silver spoon. It is believed that it should darken upon contact with an inedible mushroom;
Onion and garlic. They are added to the mushroom broth and if they darken, it means there is a poisonous species in the pan. It is not true;
Milk. Some people believe that when a mushroom that is dangerous to humans is placed in milk, it will definitely turn sour. Another myth;
Worms and larvae. If they eat certain types of mushrooms, then they are edible. But in fact, some species edible by worms can harm human health.

And another common myth is that all young mushrooms are edible. But this is not true either. Many species are dangerous at any age.

Expanded list of edible mushrooms and their descriptions

In order to indicate the names of all edible mushrooms and give them descriptions, you will need a whole book, since there are a huge number of their varieties. But more often than not, people opt for the most famous, trustworthy species, leaving dubious representatives to professional mushroom pickers.

It is also known as boletus. This mushroom has earned popularity due to its nutritional value and aromatic taste. It is suitable for any type of processing: frying, boiling, drying, salting.

The porcini mushroom is characterized by a thick light stalk and a large tubular cap, whose diameter can reach 20 cm. Most often it has a brown, brown or red color. At the same time, it is completely heterogeneous: the edge is usually lighter than the center. As the mushroom ages, the lower part of the cap changes color from white to yellow-green. You can see a mesh pattern on the leg.

The inner pulp has a dense consistency and its taste resembles a nut. When cut, its color does not change.

Ryzhik

Very high in calories and nutritious. Great for pickling and salting. You can use other types of treatment, but it is better not to dry it. Characterized by high degree digestibility.

The main feature of saffron milk caps is their bright orange color. Moreover, the color is characteristic of all parts of the mushroom: the stem, cap and even the pulp. The cap is plate-shaped and has a depression in the center. The color is not uniform: the red color is diluted with dark gray spots. The plates are frequent. If you cut the mushroom, the flesh changes color to green or brown.

boletus

A common species, which, as the name suggests, prefers to grow near a cluster of birch trees. Ideal fried or boiled.

The boletus has a cylindrical light leg covered with dark scales. It feels quite fibrous to the touch. Inside there is light flesh with a dense consistency. It may turn slightly pink when cut. The hat is small, similar to a gray or brownish-brown pad. There are white tubes at the bottom.

Boletus

A favorite nutritious mushroom that grows in temperate zones.

It is not difficult to recognize it: its plump leg widens towards the bottom and is covered with many small scales. The cap is hemispherical, but over time it acquires a flatter shape. It can be red-brown or white-brown in color. The lower tubes are close to a dirty gray shade. When cut, the inner flesh changes color. It can turn blue, black, purple or red.

Butter

Small mushrooms that are most often used for pickling. They grow in the northern hemisphere.

Their cap is usually smooth and in rare cases fibrous. It is covered with a mucous film on top, so it may feel sticky to the touch. The leg is also mostly smooth, sometimes with a ring.

This type definitely requires pre-cleaning before cooking, but the skin usually comes off easily.

Chanterelles

One of the earliest spring representatives of mushrooms. Whole families grow up.

The hat is not a standard type. Initially it is flat, but over time it takes the shape of a funnel with a depression in the center. All parts of the mushroom are colored light orange. The white pulp is dense in consistency, pleasant to the taste, but not at all nutritious.

Mosswort

Delicious mushroom, which can be found in temperate latitudes. Its most common types are:

Green. Characterized by a gray-olive cap, yellow fibrous stem and dense light flesh;
Bolotny. Looks like a boletus. The color is predominantly yellow. When cut, the flesh turns blue;
Yellow-brown. The yellow cap takes on a reddish tint with age. The leg is also yellow, but has a darker color at the base.

Suitable for all types of preparation and processing.

Russula

Quite large mushrooms growing in Siberia, Far East and the European part Russian Federation.

Hats can have different colors: yellow, red, green and even blue. It is believed that it is best to eat representatives with the least amount of red pigment. The cap itself is round with a small depression in the center. The plates are usually white, yellow or beige. The skin on the cap can be easily removed or come off only along the edge. The leg is not high, mostly white.

Honey mushrooms

Popular edible mushrooms that grow in large groups. They prefer to grow on tree trunks and stumps.

Their hats are usually not large, their diameter reaches 13 cm. In color they can be yellow, gray-yellow, beige-brown. The shape is most often flat, but in some species they are spherical. The leg is elastic, cylindrical, sometimes has a ring.

Raincoat

This species prefers coniferous and deciduous forests.

The body of the mushroom is white or gray-white in color, sometimes covered with small needles. It can reach a height of 10 cm. The inner flesh is initially white, but over time it begins to darken. It has a pronounced pleasant aroma. If the flesh of the mushroom has already darkened, then you should not eat it.

Ryadovka

It has a fleshy convex cap with a smooth surface. The inner pulp is denser with a pronounced odor. The leg is cylindrical, widening towards the bottom. It reaches a height of 8 cm. Depending on the species, the color of the mushroom can be purple, brown, gray-brown, ashy and sometimes purple.

You can recognize it by its cushion-shaped cap of brown or brown color. The surface is slightly rough to the touch. The lower tubes have a yellow tint, which turns blue when pressed. The same thing happens with the pulp. The stem is cylindrical and has a heterogeneous color: darker on top, lighter below.

Dubovik

A tubular edible mushroom that grows in sparse forests.

The cap is quite large, growing up to 20 cm in diameter. In structure and shape it is fleshy and hemispherical. The color is usually dark brown or yellow. The inner pulp is lemon-colored, but turns significantly blue when cut. The tall leg is thick, cylindrical, yellow. It usually has a darker color towards the bottom.

Oyster mushrooms

It is characterized by a funnel-shaped cap, up to 23 cm in diameter. Depending on the type, the color can be light, closer to white, and gray. The surface is slightly matte to the touch and the edges are very thin. The light legs of oyster mushrooms are very short, rarely reaching 2.5 cm. The flesh is fleshy, light, with a pleasant aroma. The plates are wide, their color can vary from white to gray.

Champignon

Very popular edible mushrooms due to their pleasant taste and high nutritional value. Their description and characteristics are familiar not only to mushroom pickers.

These mushrooms are familiar to everyone for their white color with a slight grayish tint. The hat is spherical with a downward curved edge. The leg is not high, dense in structure.

They are most often used for cooking, but are used extremely rarely for pickling.

Conditionally edible mushrooms

The edibility of mushrooms in the forest may be conditional. This means that such species can be eaten only after a certain type of processing. Otherwise, they may harm human health.

Processing involves a thermal process. But if some types need to be boiled several times, then for others, soaking in water and frying is sufficient.

To such representatives conditionally edible mushrooms can be attributed to: true milk mushroom, green milkweed, purple webwort, winter honey fungus, common scaly mushroom.

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