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 metabolic processes body, increased appetite, functioning of the 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 the appearance, characteristics and names of each species can help in this matter.

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, the white toadstool, also has no pungent odor at all and its flesh is light.

One more important point in this matter is the area of ​​growth. Typically, edible species grow far away from their dangerous counterparts. Therefore, a proven harvest location can significantly reduce the risk of running into 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 well-known, 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 a high degree of 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

A tasty mushroom that 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, the Far East and the European part Russian Federation.

Hats may have various 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 color. 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.

Such representatives of conditionally edible mushrooms include: real milk mushroom, green row, purple web spider, winter honey fungus, common scale.

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 are the well-known mold, yeasts are yeast and similar very small microorganisms. Fungi can grow on living organisms or feed on their waste products. Fungi can form mutually beneficial relationships with higher plants and insects, a relationship 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”. By structure 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”. A large area of ​​the mycelium is required for mushroom collection 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 and can be consumed fried or 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 an oak tree, but its inedible double. In olive-brown oak, the flesh immediately turns blue when cut, while in its poisonous counterpart it slowly changes color, first to red, and then turns blue.

All the mushrooms described above are spongy. Among sponge mushrooms, only gall mushroom and the satanic mushroom, they look like white, but immediately change color when cut, and the pepper one is not edible, because it is bitter, more about them below. But among the agaric mushrooms there are many inedible and poisonous ones, so the child should remember the names and descriptions of edible mushrooms before going on a “quiet 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, on a stalk white ring. 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 at the end of spring, and greatest number occurs 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. It can be collected 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, back side the caps are 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 quite large in size. 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 in small quantities can cause great harm to 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 mushrooms, the smell and taste of these mushrooms are unpleasant.

Gall mushroom- double of white. It differs from boletus in that top part its legs are 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 in nature glowing mushrooms. They are most often found in Japan. These mushrooms are distinguished by the fact that they glow in the dark. green, this looks especially impressive if the mushroom grows in the middle of rotten tree trunks.
• Some mushrooms lead to serious illnesses and infect agricultural plants.

Mushrooms are mysterious and very interesting organisms, full of unsolved secrets and unusual discoveries. Edible species They are a very tasty and healthy product, but 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.

Epithelial threads. Mushrooms are not able to produce chlorophyll like plants, so they are highly dependent on environment. It is from rotting leaves and decomposing remains of living beings that they consume all the necessary substances for growth and development. They are rich in organic matter.

About 200 species of mushrooms grow in the forests of our country, but only 40 species of them can be eaten by humans. Energy value the product is low, about 300-500 calories per 1 kg. The chemical is close to vegetable crops, despite the fact that the set of amino acids is similar to products of animal origin.

What mushrooms grow under pine trees? These are saffron milk caps, svinushki, russula, Polish mushrooms, boletus, greenfinches, mokrukha and fly agarics. In spruce forests you can find porcini mushrooms, butterfly mushrooms, spruce mushrooms, garlic mushrooms, forest champignons, puffballs and yellow milk mushrooms.

White pine mushroom

Most often, when asked what mushrooms grow under pine and spruce, the answer is “white.” This fruiting body has many synonyms: porcini mushroom, pine boletus.

Its cap can reach 20 cm in diameter, predominantly wine-red or brownish in color. The leg has a swollen appearance and is similar in color to the color of the cap, but of a lighter shade. The pulp does not darken when cut, but is always white.

The mushroom can be found in darkened and highly lit areas of the forest. It has been established that illumination does not affect yield. It can bear fruit either singly or in groups.

Mushroom picking occurs in the summer-autumn period. The highest yield occurs at the end of August. In some regions there are specimens weighing up to 1 kg. Mushroom pickers prefer young mushrooms that are not affected by larvae and have a more delicate taste.

Porcini mushroom can be prepared in any way: fried, pickled, dried. In some regions, salads are seasoned with fresh porcini mushroom.

Ryzhik

Camelina is one of those mushrooms that grow under pine and spruce. They are distinguished as having a cap of orange or red-orange color. has a yellowish tint or lilac-greenish. The fruiting individuals of this species are covered with mucus. When you cut or touch it, green spots appear. It has a pronounced smell of milky juice.

Spruce mushrooms feel best in places where moss grows, there are small hummocks, and also near lingonberries and blueberries.

The pine species is most often found in drier areas of the forest, on small hills near young pines.

The mushroom is best suited for marinating and frying in sour cream.

Mosswort

Externally, the mushroom looks like an aged white one. In our region, green moss fly is predominantly found. The velvety cap acquires a greenish-purple hue over time. The advantage grows on the edges and roadsides.

The mushroom has a pronounced fruity flavor and is eaten boiled or fried.

If we discuss what mushrooms grow under pine trees, then they include the “relative” of the flywheel - the Polish mushroom. By appearance strongly resembles white. The cap can reach 15 cm in diameter, velvety, brown or brown. A blue color appears on the cuts; the flesh itself is white, with a yellowish tint. Mushroom can be prepared in any way, known person way.

Butter

Oiler is the name of a huge group of mushrooms from the Boletaceae family, which includes about 40 representatives. The main difference between the family is that all its representatives have an oily cap.

Perhaps this species leads the list of what mushrooms grow under pine trees in our country. Although they are found in Africa and Australia, that is, in those countries with a temperate climate.

In our forests, the common and autumn oiler are found predominantly. The fungal cap has a small bump in the center. The color is usually brownish, but there are specimens with a brown or olive tint. The peel is easily removed from the mushroom; inside there is soft and juicy pulp, yellowish in color.

The oiler feels good near young pines, but is also found in mixed forests. The mushroom loves soil with good drainage, that is, sandstone. He accepts greenfinches, chanterelles and russula as neighbors. Grows mainly in groups.

It bears fruit almost throughout the warm season, from July to October, the main thing is that the atmospheric temperature is above 18 degrees. When the temperature drops to -5, mushroom growth stops completely.

The category of what mushrooms grow under pine trees includes summer and granular butterflies. Differences from autumn and ordinary type slightly, the color of the cap is ocher-yellow. Found mainly in pine forests.

Gruzd

This family of mushrooms includes several species. These are bitter milk mushrooms or bitter mushrooms, black milk mushrooms or chernukha mushrooms. Prefers forest floors. It can grow in spruce and pine forests, birch groves and areas where there is hazel undergrowth.

The bitterberry cap usually does not exceed 8 cm, similar to a funnel, the stem is high, up to 10 cm, and up to 1.5 cm in diameter. The color of the cap and stem is the same, reddish-brown.

The cap of the chernuka can reach 20 cm in diameter and is olive-brown in color. The leg is not high - up to 6 cm, but fleshy - up to 2.5 cm in diameter.

Although these species fall under the category of what mushrooms grow under pine trees (photos are located in the article), they are still conditionally edible, that is, they require compliance with a certain preparation technology. The mushroom is pickled only after pre-soaking or cooking.

Russula

In coniferous forests there are russulas that have an unusually huge species composition. The color of the caps is amazing: from brown and red to green and purple shades. But the structure of the cap is very fragile. Russulas are also called the most “democratic” mushrooms: they grow in spruce and pine groves, deciduous forests and wastelands. They can bear fruit in cool and hot seasons, depending on the subspecies.

Mostly russulas are fried or boiled, dried, since they are not suitable for pickling due to their fragile structure.

Harvesting Rules

It is very easy to recognize the mushrooms that grow under the pine tree. There are plenty of photos on the Internet; almost every home has a book on mushrooms. But even edible mushrooms can be dangerous to humans if certain rules are not followed:

• Picking mushrooms near highways and railway tracks is prohibited. There is a high risk that they will contain heavy metal salts and other harmful substances.
• Collect only those specimens that you are sure of. You shouldn’t taste them, especially not let children do it.
• Inspect the mushrooms carefully: they should not be damaged or have wormholes. When you come home again, inspect the harvested crop and discard damaged specimens.
• Do not pull out the mushroom along with the mycelium. If you do this, then after a couple of weeks there will be no new mushrooms in this place.

If you have the slightest doubt, for example, if the mushroom is of an unknown species, discard it. Happy quiet hunting.

At the end of every summer, the time comes to take a basket or even two and go picking mushrooms in the forest kingdom. Mushrooms, the species of which grow in central Russia, have a lot of useful nutritional qualities, and the use of some of them easily satisfies the human need for meat and animal products. Of course, we are talking about edible mushrooms.

In addition to beneficial nutritional properties and unique taste, mushrooms are also good because they give you the opportunity to fully relax during collection. There is little that can compare with a long walk through the morning forest, accompanied by frequent squats and bends towards the noticed owners of bright hats.

What types of mushrooms are there?

Mushrooms are divided into:

• edible;
• conditionally edible;
• poisonous.

Belonging to one or another category is determined by the properties of mushrooms. However, among people, mushrooms are divided more simply into edible and poisonous, without going into such a concept as “convention”. Indeed, few people will take a mushroom that has been eaten by worms, is old and rotten, soggy or overgrown with mold, or is incomprehensible and unfamiliar in appearance. Therefore, ordinary people do not feel the need for information about conditionally edible states and types of mushrooms.

Which ones are edible?

The most common edible mushrooms in forests middle zone are considered:

• boletus;
• boletus;
• boletus;
• white;
• milk mushrooms (white and black);
• volnushki (svinushki);
• flywheels;
• boletus;
• saffron milk caps;
• chanterelles;
• valui (calves);
• Russula.

Besides them in last decades They began to actively collect champignons, both forest and field, which traditionally in Rus' were not brought home in baskets, just as white ones had not been taken in Switzerland since ancient times.

Of course, the types of edible mushrooms are not limited to this list. However, it is these forest creatures that most often end up in baskets.

Boletus and boletus

These types of fungi prefer deciduous or mixed forests with a predominance of birch and aspen trees. They are considered “relatives” of white mushrooms and, of course, the “king of all mushrooms” - boletus. These types of mushrooms differ from each other in the color of the cap and the pulp under it, as well as in taste. This is due to their symbiosis with different trees - aspen does not give dark smoky shades to the mushroom, as birch does.

Their hats are like this:

• from smoky grayish to rich chocolate, almost black - in boletus mushrooms;
• colors of autumn leaves, brown, red, terracotta, dirty red - in boletuses.

The nutritional properties of mushrooms are equivalent. From a culinary point of view, there are no differences between them either. They are fried, boiled, stewed. Soups and cabbage soup are prepared from them. They are dried for the winter and frozen. Young, strong, “pot-bellied” mushrooms can be pickled. In terms of taste, this dish is in no way inferior to a jar of salted boletus mushrooms. But these varieties of mushrooms do not like vinegar; pickled boletus and aspen boletuses are very bitter.

Boletus

Boletus or Boletus is the internationally recognized “king” of mushrooms. Many peoples have legends dedicated to it, in which the boletus appears to be the progenitor of all other mushrooms, both edible and poisonous. There are legends in which two boletus brothers appear. One of them gave the forests edible mushrooms. And from the mycelium of the second one, poisonous ones multiplied.

Today he heads rare species mushrooms and it is almost impossible to find any type of mushroom, with the exception of porcini mushrooms.

Boletus mushrooms can be not only edible; for example, some representatives of this forest family are poisonous:

• Satanic;
• beautiful or beautiful;
• legal or lawyer, almost never grew up here, but was often encountered in France;
• le kele;
• stocky;
• purple;
• porosporous;
• red-legged, similar to beautiful, but differs in bright red or orange “limb”.

Distinguish inedible species Boletus mushrooms are very simple, they correspond as closely as possible to the popular names. However, finding them in our time is no less difficult than edible varieties Boletus

Externally edible boletus similar to porcini mushrooms, but they are more substantial and substantial. If these two mushrooms are placed side by side, the difference between them will be the same as between a peasant woman and a queen, a mongrel and a Molossian Great Dane.

As for culinary features, then they are not there. Boletus is suitable for preparing any dishes, can be prepared in all ways and has no equal in nutritional value.

White

Recognized as the first nutritional value after boletuses, the mushrooms of the deciduous forest are white. You should look for them on hillocks, forest edges, and clearings. Whites prefer places that are not completely damp and do not like close proximity to trees; they are “on their own.” The minimum neighborhood radius in the mycelium, that is, the distance between its so-called “circles” is 1 meter.

This means that, having discovered a porcini mushroom, it makes sense to look around and walk around its place of growth at a distance of at least a meter. Thus, the chance of finding other whites increases significantly.

The hat of these beauties is colored brown in all shades, and the leg is plump, expanding towards the ground. The flesh under the cap is white, but only in young mushrooms. The older it is, the brighter the yellow-greenish shades appear in the color of the pulp. Botanists explain this feature by symbiosis with herbs.

You can cook whatever you want from white mushrooms, as well as from boletus mushrooms. These mushrooms are equally good with any cooking method. Of course, white ones can be dried, salted and pickled.

Milk mushrooms, saffron milk caps and volushki

These types of mushrooms are united not only by the traditional method of their preparation - pickling and marinades, but also by related origin. And they prefer similar places in the forest - damp or close to water, the slopes of ravines, lowlands and other areas with high humidity.

Moreover, they grow up in neighborhoods and families. If a family of milk mushrooms or milk caps is discovered, then after collecting this “harvest” you should carefully search all the lowlands nearby; milk milk mushrooms will definitely be found.

They have the same structure - a hollow, dense leg and the same cap, but the colors are different:

• in milk mushrooms - white and black-brown;
• in saffron milk caps - dirty orange, terracotta;
• the volnushki are pink, with fluffy fringe below.

These mushrooms can be used in different ways, but traditionally they are only pickled and salted. When fried, they become very bitter and become tasteless in soups, but they perform well lightly salted in salads.

Butterflies and moss mushrooms

These types of mushrooms are very similar in appearance. The difference between them lies in the lower, seamy plane of the cap and in the characteristics of growth. Butterflies grow in “families”, and moss mushrooms are proud “loners”. Moreover, unlike white mushrooms, having found a mushroom, you don’t have to try to look for others; the neighbor of the obtained mushroom can grow tens of meters away.

These types of mushrooms prefer coniferous forests. Butterflies love the conditions of pine forests, and moss mushrooms love to hide in spruce paws. Both mushrooms are colored brown shades, the differences between them are as follows:

• small, very slippery, as if covered with mucus or grease, with yellowish dense flesh at the break - boletus;
• large, with a large cap at the bottom similar to yellowish moss - moss mushrooms.

Both types are ideal for frying, preparing all types of hot dishes and marinating. You can also freeze them. But these mushrooms do not tolerate drying well.

Chanterelles

They got their name because they look like fox faces, although it is not clear what exactly they are. Their cap smoothly flows out of the stem; sometimes it may seem that there is no stem at all, and the mushroom consists only of a shaped cap.

The color of the mushrooms ranges from pale yellow to fiery red, depending on the composition of the soil in which they grew. Mushrooms grow not just in families, but in large colonies. This explains their overwhelming abundance on market stalls. You can literally pick a large basket of chanterelles without leaving one place.

These mushrooms are used for frying, salting and pickling. With all other cooking methods they lose their taste. However, chanterelles dry well and are quite suitable as a filler when preparing winter cabbage soup or other dishes.

Valui

They are not so common, but they are not rare either. These mushrooms look like a large and serious russula. As mushroom pickers joke, if you cross white and russula, you get valui. This joke is the most accurate description of the appearance of these mushrooms.

They are used as universal fillers in the preparation of any dishes, but they exhibit taste qualities only in pickles. Not suitable for winter preparations such as drying or freezing.

They prefer to grow on the edges of deciduous forests, with a predominance of birch trees. They do not like damp lowlands and an abundance of grass.

Russula

The most common mushroom. As those who like to wander through the forests with a basket joke: “No matter how many types of mushrooms exist, you will still collect russula.” Although they are more common than others, they are difficult to collect. Russulas are distinguished by their pronounced fragility and brittleness; they can turn into dust even in a basket.

Their nutritional and taste value is the lowest. The most optimal use of russula is as a filler in pickles and assorted marinades.

Externally, this mushroom is elegant. The leg is smooth, white. A hat of any color and shade, bright and attractive. There is no pulp underneath - the mushroom is a lamellar mushroom.

Which ones are poisonous?

The types of poisonous mushrooms are no less diverse than edible ones. It is simply impossible to remember all of them, and it is not necessary. When collecting forest harvests in a basket, you should be guided by the golden rule - “if you’re not sure, don’t take it.”

More often than others in Russian forests may meet:

• fly agarics;
• pale toadstools;
• false honey mushrooms and chanterelles.

The “king of all toadstools,” that is, the false boletus, better known as the satanic mushroom, is now difficult to find, as is its edible relative. Also rarely found are false whites, aspen boletus or boletus. It is not difficult to distinguish them - all poisonous counterparts of purebred mushrooms have a strong unpleasant smell, noticeable when their caps are broken, with “inedible”, acidic shades of flesh and “skinny” crooked legs. Even a person who finds himself in the forest for the first time and has seen mushrooms only in pictures will confidently say when he sees false doubles that there is something wrong with these “gifts of nature.”

Death cap

It will not be difficult to distinguish pale grebe by her skinny leg in a skirt, the blue-lilac color of the plates and the grayish triangular hat with growths. There is no desire to even approach such a mushroom, let alone bend over or pick it up with your hands. By the way, this cannot be done, since toadstool is incredibly toxic. You should not knock it down with a stick or kick it. Firstly, the toxin will remain on the shoes and stick, and secondly, the toadstool brings considerable benefits to the forest.

Fly agarics

False chanterelles and honey mushrooms

Honey mushrooms (edible), although very tasty and healthy mushrooms, are strictly not recommended for collection by those without knowledge and experience. Since it is often beyond the power of even a hereditary mushroom picker with considerable experience, who goes into the forest with a basket of early childhood. External differences between them are practically unnoticeable.

Although chanterelles (false) are incredibly similar to edible ones, even an inexperienced person can tell them apart with a careful look. False ones are covered with whitish growths on the inside. It feels like the fungus has teenage acne. The coloring itself is bright, but not healthy, it’s like a fox that looks like it’s “eaten with blood.” This mushroom also has dense flesh with bloody or pinkish-terracotta veins, which is immediately visible when broken, which is not present in normal edible species.

In general, when going to the forest, you don’t need to grab and put everything that comes along the paths into a basket. You need to take only those mushrooms that you are confident in. And it’s even better to go mushroom picking with a knowledgeable, experienced person.