What kinds of edible mushrooms are there? Beware, poisonous mushrooms: a selection of known species. Photos and names of mushrooms

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

It is simply impossible to cover all the biological and ecological diversity of fungi on a planetary scale. 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 central 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).

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 is found in isolated cases only in the central zones of Texas and on some islands of Japan. A unique feature of this natural miracle is the 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:

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

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.

• 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, which 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.

Volnushka

These trophies are considered conditionally edible. They are used as food only by residents of the northern regions globe, and Europeans do not recognize it 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.

• 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.

• 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.

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.

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 of Romania, Moldova, and Belarus. Real fox ( Cantharellus cibarius) represents the genus Kantarelov.
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.

Important! Real chanterelles are often confused with their counterparts. Therefore, when harvesting, you need to pay special attention to the color of the trophy pulp. 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 10 centimeters in 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.

• 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.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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).

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.

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

In France they call absolutely all mushrooms. Therefore, linguists are inclined to think that the Slavic name of 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.

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 flesh is white or yellow-brown with clear light veins, tastes like fried sunflower seeds or nuts;
• ellipsoidal spores develop only in humus substrate.

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 the area 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 the delicacy in the climatic conditions of Ukraine. To do this, it is important to acquire an artificial mushroom substrate.

When collecting shiitake, you need to focus on the following characteristics 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 pulp is dense, fleshy, juicy, cream or snow-white in 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.

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

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 color scheme corresponding to the cap (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 appearance 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.

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;
• a tubular layer up to 3 cm in size, yellow at an early age and olive-lemon at maturity;
• spores of yellow-olive color, up to 6 microns in size, fusiform and smooth.

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:

1. To search, go to environmentally friendly areas, away from noisy highways and production assets.
2. 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.
3. Under no circumstances should samples be taken from raw fruits.
4. During a “silent hunt,” minimize touching your hands to your mouth and face.
5. Do not take mushrooms that have a white tuberous formation at the base.
6. Compare found trophies with their toxic counterparts.
7. Visually evaluate the entire fruit: stem, plates, cap, pulp.
8. 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.
9. Never drink water in which mushrooms have been boiled. It may contain many toxic substances.
10. Remove copies damaged by the wormhole, as well as those that have any damage.
11. Only young fruits should fall into the mushroom picker's basket.
12. All trophies should be cut, not pulled out.
13. The best time for “silent hunting” is considered to be early morning.
14. 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

Mushroom poisoning is indicated by:

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

Video: mushroom poisoning

Was this article helpful?

Thank you for your opinion!

Write in the comments what questions you have not received an answer to, we will definitely respond!

67 once already
helped

Edible mushrooms of Siberia, the Urals, the Russian North, in general, the entire taiga zone of our country. Taiga mushrooms, which we all love to hunt, because going for mushrooms is a quiet hunt that does not require shooting. Every autumn, crowds of people go to the taiga and collect boxes full of various edible mushrooms. Mushrooms are very nutritious food, although due to some of their characteristics, not all nutrients can be absorbed by our body. Mushrooms contain many essential amino acids, but many of them are not absorbed due to their chitinous shells, which do not dissolve in gastric juice. However, not all mushrooms are like this. And even if sometimes we don’t get as much benefit as we would like, we still can’t resist such an autumn delicacy. So:

White mushrooms of Siberia

Or Volzhanka, as it is popularly called, prefers to grow in birch forests or mixed ones in well-lit areas among grass. It forms mycorrhiza with birch, mainly with aged trees. Sometimes found in wetter places. A good harvest of these mushrooms can be collected in the forests of the northern climate zone. Usually grows in groups, but single individuals are also found.
The most favorable period for hunting for tremors begins at the end of July and lasts until the first half of September, although you can find this mushroom in June and October. The appearance of this mushroom looks like this:

• The cap is funnel-shaped, with a well-pressed center; as the mushroom matures, it takes on a flatter shape. The edges are turned down, and the surface is covered with thick, dense fibers arranged in the shape of concentric circles. The edge of the cap is well pubescent. The color is pink-orange, slightly reddish; in the sun the skin fades and becomes pale pink or whitish. The diameter rarely exceeds 10 cm, but there are specimens with large sizes(up to 15 cm) hats;
• the leg is short, up to 6 cm high and up to 2 cm thick, in the shape of a cylinder tapering towards the base or smooth, covered with fluff. It is very dense, but in adult mushrooms a cavity forms inside it. There are sometimes small pits on the outside. Surface color is pinkish;
• the flesh is fragile (in young mushrooms it is denser), cream or white in color; when damaged, it abundantly secretes white milky juice, which has a pungent taste and emits a light resinous aroma. At a break, when in contact with air, its shade does not change;
• the plates are frequent and narrow, descending along the stalk, of a whitish hue. There are also small intermediate plates;
• The spores are white.

Russula

How many are there? The name is the same, but they differ greatly in color. Lots of variety. The cap of all russula is covered with a film, and this mushroom is distinguished by the color of the film. But no matter what color the cap is, the flesh of the russula, like a porcini mushroom, always remains sugar-white. This is the most important difference and sign of a delicate mushroom called russula. Another common name for the mushroom is bruise. It grows everywhere in the Urals and Siberia. Scaly or greenish russula (R. virescens), green russula (R. aeruginea) and their analogues have a dangerous poisonous counterpart - the toadstool. The fruiting period of these mushrooms coincides, they grow the same in mixed and deciduous forests, and even look similar in appearance with snow-white legs and plates, as well as grass-green or gray-green caps. Therefore, when collecting green-capped russula, they cannot be “tested on the tongue”, and “falseness” can be determined by other external signs typical of the pale grebe - the presence of a ring and a volva on the stalk.

Gruzd

There is parchment, yellow, black, but this milk mushroom is dry. The cap is funnel-shaped on top, while the cap of the young mushroom is flat. The plates under the cap are frequent, the stem is dense, the same color as the cap; the pulp is brittle. Dry milk mushrooms have long been valued in Russian cuisine for their taste and aroma. One of the most popular edible mushrooms in Siberia, the Urals and the East European Plain. Dry milk mushrooms are common in coniferous and mixed forests. This species is called Russula delica, or podgrudok. In essence, it is a genus of russula. Real milk mushrooms are rare inhabitants of forests, they are much more difficult to find, they have a bitter milky juice. And the so-called dry milk mushrooms grow from July to October in birch groves, pine and coniferous forests, and their quantity can be simply incredible. It is very easy to detect these strong white creatures in the dry, dark soil of coniferous forests. The defenseless white color stands out against the dark background of the earth and fallen pine needles. But among the grass, the search becomes more complicated: you need to carefully look at each tubercle. Dry breast has a white smooth surface. In young fruiting bodies it has a slight bluish tint; the blue color on the back of the mushroom is even more noticeable. The diameter of the cap can reach 20 cm, while at first the shape is always convex with a small hole in the center, the edges are turned down. The older the dry milk mushroom (photo below), the more the cap opens, cracks in dry weather, and in rainy summers it is certainly eaten away by slugs and flies. Over time, yellow and brown spots appear over the entire surface. Dry milk mushrooms - lamellar mushrooms, with white dense flesh, without a pronounced taste or smell

Chanterelle

The mushroom is edible; culinary experts undeservedly included it in the third category. The fox got its name because of its yellow color. The fungus is like an egg yolk, and when there are a lot of them, it’s like a living omelette frozen on the grass. Take a closer look at them and see how the delicate yellow folds of the plates fancifully branch out all the way to the ground along the tapering stem. The sinuous and raked edges of the corrugated caps are beautiful. deserve not only the attention of mushroom pickers, but also respect. Chanterelles always grow in large families, sometimes occupying entire meadows. When young, the mushrooms are convex, quite neat, aligned, sometimes arranged in rows. The more “older” ones have a high leg, an even cap, they are fleshy, dense - the joy of a mushroom picker. But the smell of chanterelles is especially pleasant; it is typical for this type of mushroom, and it certainly cannot be confused with any other. Some mushroom pickers, praising mushrooms, describe this smell as a mixture of steamed birch leaves and mint.

With age, only one thing changes in chanterelles: their elastic young body acquires a more rubbery structure, especially in dry weather, and becomes flabby in damp weather. Towards the end of summer, the cap of the mushroom takes the shape of a funnel, the edges of which often become uneven, as if torn.

Sometimes a mushroom picker wanders through the forest for a long time, especially if the weather is dry, looks at fallen trees, stirs up old leaves and suddenly comes out into a clearing strewn with chanterelles; even in dry times you can profit from these mushrooms by picking up quite a lot of them.

The first chanterelles, depending on the area, do not appear at the same time, some a little earlier, others a little later, but already now, at the beginning of July, they are definitely there in the forest. Heaps, stripes, circles are the favorite placement options for fox families. By the way, you can collect chanterelles not only in baskets, but also in buckets, bags, backpacks, this is the only type of non-fragile mushroom, and even the most productive species, in any area, especially if there is enough moisture in the soil, chanterelles make up about a quarter of all mushrooms of mixed forests.

Raincoat

Valuy

Other names: bull, weeping mushroom And . This taiga mushroom is easy to recognize. The hat of young Valuevs is like a small slippery ball, and those of older ones spread out with a flat roof. Some mushroom pickers do not collect valui, because if they do it, the basket will fill up very quickly. But why disdain these edible mushrooms, although they belong to the third category? So, mushroom pickers need to know that the goby is very tasty in pickling, when there is only one there, i.e. without admixtures of other taiga mushrooms. The best time to collect values ​​is when they are born in herds. And there is no need to be afraid of the acrid taste of raw mushroom; it completely disappears when pickled. But it is better to salt the valui in a hot way, i.e. Boil for 10 minutes before salting.

Champignon

Light gray mushroom. The most popular and widespread mushroom in the world. In nature they grow: in places with moist soil; on soil with a large amount of natural fertilizers; on lands rich in compost. In Russia, they can be found not far from human habitation, in the forest, in the meadow, in a forest clearing. The variety of species is so wide that it sometimes surprises even experienced mushroom pickers. The most common is the common meadow, which can be bought in any store and is successfully grown in a mushroom farm. All types of champignons are somewhat similar, but they also have noticeable differences. Meadow, or ordinary, is a white mushroom with a rounded cap, the edges of which are curved inward and pressed against the stem. Its weight ranges from 10 to 150 g. Meadow champignon is unpretentious and is able to grow near people’s homes, especially in rural areas. The cap changes shape as the mushroom grows. It retains its convexity, but becomes increasingly flatter. The plates underneath are loose, thin and wide. They are pinkish in color and gradually acquire a brown tint. The color of the cap itself is white, with grayish scales in the middle. There are meadow species with white-pink or gray caps, the surface of which is soft and silky to the touch.

The stem of this mushroom is dense, fibrous, and quite wide. Its diameter reaches 1-3 cm. The height of the leg is 3-10 cm. It is smooth, widened at the base. While the mushroom is young, its cap is connected to the stem by a white blanket, but over time this connection disappears, and a thin white ring remains. It may persist or completely disappear with the growth of the fungus.

A distinctive feature is its pulp, or more precisely, its color. Dense, white, when scrapped it changes, becoming pinkish. These mushrooms have a rather strong and pleasant mushroom aroma. Not just edible, but very tasty meadow champignons are used to prepare many of the most variety of dishes and even eaten raw. Distinguish edible champignons from similar ones poisonous mushrooms, maybe by records. In champignons they are dark in color, while in poisonous mushrooms they are light, sometimes yellowish. In terms of its dietary properties, it is inferior in calorie content to many of the mushrooms presented above.

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 an essential component of the digestive system of 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”. 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 is more vertical. 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 its poisonous counterpart it slowly changes color, first to red, and then turns blue.

All the mushrooms described above are spongy. Among the sponge mushrooms, only the gall mushroom and the satanic mushroom are poisonous; they look like white mushrooms, but immediately change color when cut, and the pepper mushroom 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 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, 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 recently they are less and less consumed 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 agarics, death cap, false honey 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 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 has bright color, 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 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. That's why it's important to know characteristic features varieties 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, increasing appetite, functioning of the nervous system and gastrointestinal tract.

Not really exact criteria, which can be used to 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.

Another important point in this matter is the growing area. Usually edible species grow away from their 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 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

Loved by many nutritious mushroom, growing 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 may be red-brown or white-brown colors. 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, the 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 enough.

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

What is the most important thing for a mushroom picker who goes into the forest on a “silent hunt”? No, not a basket at all (although you will also need that), but knowledge, especially regarding which mushrooms are poisonous and which ones can be safely put in the basket. Without them, an outing for a forest delicacy can smoothly turn into an urgent trip to the hospital. IN in some cases will turn into the last walk in life. To avoid disastrous consequences, we bring to your attention brief information about dangerous mushrooms that should not be cut off under any circumstances. Take a closer look at the photos and forever remember how they look. So let's begin.

Among poisonous mushrooms, the first place in toxicity and frequency of fatal poisoning is occupied by toadstool. Its venom is stable before heat treatment, and also has delayed symptoms. After tasting the mushrooms, you can feel quite good for the first day. healthy person, but this effect is deceptive. While precious time is running out to save a life, toxins are already doing their dirty work, destroying the liver and kidneys. From the second day, symptoms of poisoning manifest themselves as headache and muscle pain, vomiting, but time is lost. In most cases, death occurs.

Even just for a moment touching the edible mushrooms in the basket, the poison of the toadstool is instantly absorbed into their caps and legs and turns the harmless gifts of nature into a deadly weapon.

The toadstool grows in deciduous forests and in appearance (at a young age) slightly resembles champignons or greenfinches, depending on the color of the cap. The cap can be flat with a slight convexity or egg-shaped, with smooth edges and ingrown fibers. The color varies from white to greenish-olive, the plates under the cap are also white. The elongated leg at the base expands and is “shackled” in the remains of a film-bag, which hid a young mushroom underneath, and has a white ring on top.

In a toadstool, when broken, the white flesh does not darken and retains its color.

Such different fly agarics

About dangerous properties Even children know fly agaric. In all fairy tales it is described as a deadly ingredient in the preparation of a poisonous potion. It’s so simple: the red-headed mushroom with white spots, as everyone saw it in illustrations in books, is not at all a single specimen. Besides it, there are other varieties of fly agaric that differ from each other. Some of them are very edible. For example, Caesar mushroom, ovoid and blushing fly agaric. Of course, most species are still inedible. And some are life-threatening and it is strictly prohibited to include them in the diet.

The name “fly agaric” is made up of two words: “flies” and “pestilence”, that is, death. And without explanation, it is clear that the mushroom kills flies, namely its juice, which is released from the cap after sprinkling it with sugar.

Deadly poisonous fly agaric species that pose the greatest danger to humans include:

Small but deadly ragged mushroom

The poisonous mushroom got its name from its peculiar structure: often its cap, the surface of which is covered with silky fibers, is also decorated with longitudinal cracks, and the edges are torn. In the literature, the mushroom is better known as fiber and has a modest size. The height of the leg is slightly more than 1 cm, and the diameter of the hat with a protruding tubercle in the center is a maximum of 8 cm, but this does not prevent it from remaining one of the most dangerous.

The concentration of muscarine in the pulp of the fiber exceeds the red fly agaric, and the effect is noticeable within half an hour, and within 24 hours all symptoms of poisoning with this toxin disappear.

Beautiful, but “crappy mushroom”

This is exactly the case when the title matches the content. It’s not for nothing that the false valu mushroom or horseradish mushroom is called such an indecent word by the people - not only is it poisonous, but also the flesh is bitter, and the smell it emits is simply disgusting and not at all mushroom-like. But thanks to its “aroma”, it will no longer be possible to gain the trust of a mushroom picker under the guise of russula, which valui is very similar to.

The scientific name of the mushroom is “hebeloma adhesive.”

False tree grows everywhere, but most often it can be seen at the end of summer on the light edges of coniferous and deciduous forests, under an oak, birch or aspen. The cap of a young mushroom is creamy-white, convex, with the edges turned down. With age, its center bends inward and darkens to a yellow-brown color, while the edges remain light. The skin on the cap is nice and smooth, but sticky. The bottom of the cap consists of adherent plates, gray-white in young valuei, and dirty yellow in old specimens. The dense, bitter pulp also has a corresponding color. The leg of the false valuu is quite high, about 9 cm. It is wide at the base, tapers further upward, and is covered with a white coating similar to flour.

A characteristic feature of the “horseradish mushroom” is the presence of black inclusions on the plates.

The poisonous twin of summer honey mushrooms: sulfur-yellow honey fungus

Everyone knows that they grow on stumps in friendly flocks, but among them there is a “relative” that looks practically no different from tasty mushrooms, but causes severe poisoning. This is a false sulfur-yellow honey fungus. Poisonous lookalikes live in clusters on the remains of tree species almost everywhere, both in forests and in clearings between fields.

The mushrooms have small caps (maximum 7 cm in diameter) of gray-yellow color, with a darker, reddish center. The pulp is light, bitter and smells bad. The plates under the cap are tightly attached to the stem; in the old mushroom they are dark. The light leg is long, up to 10 cm, and smooth, consisting of fibers.

You can distinguish between “good” and “bad honey fungus” by the following characteristics:

• The edible mushroom has scales on its cap and stem, while the false mushroom does not;
• The “good” mushroom is dressed in a skirt on a leg, the “bad” one does not have one.

Satanic mushroom disguised as boletus

The massive leg and dense pulp of the satanic mushroom make it look like, but eating such a beauty is fraught with severe poisoning. Satanic bolete, as this species is also called, tastes quite good: there is no smell, no bitterness characteristic of poisonous mushrooms.

Some scientists even classify bolet as a conditionally edible mushroom if it is subjected to prolonged soaking and prolonged heat treatment. But no one can say exactly how many toxins boiled mushrooms of this type contain, so it’s better not to risk your health.

Externally, the satanic mushroom is quite beautiful: the dirty white cap is fleshy, with a spongy yellow bottom that turns red over time. The shape of the leg is similar to the real one edible boletus, just as massive, in the shape of a barrel. Under the cap, the stem becomes thinner and turns yellow, the rest is orange-red. The flesh is very dense, white, only pinkish at the very base of the stem. Young mushrooms have a pleasant smell, but older specimens give off a disgusting smell of spoiled vegetables.

You can distinguish Satanic boletus from edible mushrooms by cutting the flesh: when it comes into contact with air, it first acquires a red tint and then turns blue.

The debate about the edibility of pig mushrooms was stopped in the early 90s, when all types of these mushrooms were officially recognized as dangerous to human life and health. Some mushroom pickers continue to collect them for food to this day, but this should not be done under any circumstances, since pig toxins can accumulate in the body and symptoms of poisoning do not appear immediately.

Externally, poisonous mushrooms are similar to milk mushrooms: they are small, with squat legs and a fleshy round cap of a dirty yellow or gray-brown color. The center of the hat is deeply concave, the edges are wavy. The fruit body is yellowish in cross section, but quickly darkens from the air. Pigs grow in groups in forests and plantings; they especially love wind-fallen trees, located among their rhizomes.

There are more than 30 varieties of pig's ear, as the mushroom is also called. All of them contain lectins and can cause poisoning, but the thinnest pig is considered the most dangerous. The cap of a young poisonous mushroom is smooth, dirty olive, and becomes rusty over time. The short leg has the shape of a cylinder. When the mushroom body is broken, a distinct smell of rotting wood is heard.

The following pigs are no less dangerous:

Poisonous umbrellas

Slender mushrooms on tall, thin stalks with flat, wide-open caps resembling an umbrella grow in abundance along roads and roadsides. They are called umbrellas. The cap actually opens up and becomes wider as the mushroom grows. Most varieties of umbrella mushrooms are edible and very tasty, but there are also poisonous specimens among them.

The most dangerous and common poisonous mushrooms are the following umbrellas:

Poisonous rows

Row mushrooms have many varieties. Among them there are both edible and very tasty mushrooms, as well as frankly tasteless and inedible types. There are also very dangerous poisonous rows. Some of them resemble their “harmless” relatives, which easily misleads inexperienced mushroom pickers. Before you go into the forest, you should look for a person to be your partner. He must know all the intricacies of the mushroom business and be able to distinguish “bad” rows from “good” ones.

The second name for the rows is govorushki.

Among the poisonous talkers, the following rows are considered one of the most dangerous, capable of causing death:

Gall mushroom: inedible or poisonous?

Most scientists classify the gall mushroom as inedible, since even forest insects do not dare to taste its bitter pulp. However, another group of researchers is convinced that this mushroom is poisonous. If the dense pulp is eaten, death does not occur. But the toxins it contains in large quantities cause enormous harm to internal organs, in particular the liver.

People call the mushroom bitter for its unique taste.

The size of the poisonous mushroom is not small: the diameter of the brown-orange cap reaches 10 cm, and the creamy-red leg is very thick, with a darker mesh-like pattern in the upper part.

The gall mushroom is similar to the white one, but, unlike the latter, it always turns pink when broken.

Fragile impatiens galerina swamp

In swampy areas of the forest, in thickets of moss, you can find small mushrooms on long thin leg- swamp gallerina. The brittle light yellow leg with a white ring at the top can be easily knocked down even with a thin twig. Moreover, the mushroom is poisonous and should not be eaten anyway. The dark yellow cap of the galerina is also fragile and watery. At a young age it looks like a bell, but then straightens, leaving only a sharp bulge in the center.

This is not a complete list of poisonous mushrooms; in addition, there are many false species that can easily be confused with edible ones. If you are not sure which mushroom is under your feet, please pass by. It’s better to take an extra lap through the forest or return home with an empty wallet than to suffer from severe poisoning later. Be careful, take care of your health and the health of those close to you!

Video about the most dangerous mushrooms for humans