How to determine whether honey mushrooms are edible and inedible. Honey fungus (Honey mushrooms)

Every year getting closer mushroom season Beginning mushroom pickers are interested in what certain edible mushrooms look like. And this is very correct and important. You need to not only know, but also be able to distinguish “good” mushrooms from “bad” ones, since the consequences of eating a poisonous (false) mushroom can be quite sad.

Honey mushrooms are very delicious mushrooms, so today’s article is dedicated to them. We will tell you and show you in the photo what edible honey mushrooms look like. We will also pay attention to false honey mushrooms in order to be able to distinguish them from real ones and not put them in our basket. Perhaps we’ll start with them...

What false (poisonous) honey mushrooms look like

The most common honey fungus is the brick-red and sulfur-yellow honey fungus. They can be distinguished from edible honey mushrooms by their unpleasant smell, the color of the mushroom cap and the plates under it, as well as by the structure of the stem. All inedible mushrooms have a stem without a ring, while the stem of edible mushrooms has a skirt. The cap is convex, then half-spread, yellow, with a reddish tint in the center. The plates are adherent, sulfur-yellow, then greenish-olive.

Sulfur-yellow false honey fungus (photo)

In the photo there is a brick-red poisonous honey fungus

What does autumn honey fungus look like in reality?

What edible honey fungus actually looks like

The cap of edible honey mushrooms can be from 3 to 10 centimeters; its shape resembles a tea saucer. A young honey mushroom may have a beautiful convex cap with a tubercle in the middle. Most often, his hat is yellow-brown in color and covered with numerous dark scales. Dark fawn or light yellowish rare plates are placed evenly under the hat. The pulp of such mushrooms looks like a white, loose mass with a pleasant smell and sourish-astringent taste. But try raw mushrooms not worth it. The leg can reach a thickness of 0.8-1 cm, and a height of up to 7-10 cm. Sometimes the leg can be denser - up to 1.5 cm, which thickens towards the base and is covered with brownish-brownish small scales and retained white membranous ring. The presence of a ring on the stem (skirt) on the stem of honey mushrooms is the most reliable way to distinguish a genuine mushroom from a false one.

These mushrooms are quite easy to recognize; they have a long (sometimes more than 15 cm) stalk of light or dark colors. It depends on the place where honey mushrooms grow. Some mushrooms have a stem dressed in a “skirt”.

The cap of the mushroom is rounded towards the bottom and has a lamellar shape. It can have different shades - from light to brown.

Where do honey mushrooms grow?

Forest mushrooms can grow in the most different climates. They are capable of capturing quite large areas and grow in large areas. Most often they can be found near stumps and small bushes.

As a rule, they can be hidden under leaves or in the grass, although sometimes you can find a mushroom standing alone in the middle of the path.

Types of mushrooms

Summer honey fungus

Such mushrooms grow in large groups mainly near deciduous trees, they especially love old, weak stumps and damaged trees. In the mountains they find places on spruce or pine trees. They are small in size. The length is no more than 7 cm, and the diameter of the cap is no more than 5-6 cm.

Young mushrooms have a convex cap, but with age it flattens, leaving only a small light tubercle. IN temperate zone summer honey mushrooms are found in areas of deciduous trees.

Under favorable conditions they can bear fruit all year round.

Autumn honey fungus

In the photo, these honey mushrooms are similar to the previous species. However they are slightly different large sizes legs (up to 10 cm) and large diameter caps (up to 15 cm). Like summer mushrooms, the cap is convex at first, but flattens with age.

The autumn species appears at the end of August and bears fruit for about 3 weeks. They can grow singly or in large groups on more than 200 species of trees or shrubs. These can be stumps, fallen trunks, branches and even cuttings of fallen leaves.

Sometimes the fungus can grow on some plants, for example, potatoes.

Winter honey fungus

Like other species, it likes to settle on weak or dead trees. These are mainly poplars and maples. In this case, the wood gradually deteriorates. It is approximately the same size as the summer one, only with a slightly larger cap.

It grows in large groups, which are often fused. Very often they gather during a thaw - they appear in thawed patches.

It is believed that winter honey mushrooms contain a small proportion of toxins. For this reason, they need to be subjected to greater heat treatment before use.

Meadow honey fungus

These mushrooms grow in open areas. They can often be found in ditches, ravines, clearings and forest edges. Often found on summer cottages. They are small in size - a thin stem and a small light-colored cap.

It can be found from late spring to mid-autumn. He tolerates it well arid climate and begins to bear fruit immediately after the rains.

Honey fungus thick-legged

Judging by the photo, honey mushrooms of this species are very different from their relatives. In fact, the difference lies only in the size of the leg, or rather in its thickness. Most often it grows on damaged, weak trees, stumps of spruce, beech, ash, etc.

The height of the stem is approximately the same as that of summer mushrooms; the cap has a large diameter of up to 10 cm. The young mushroom has a cone-shaped cap. With age, it flattens and tucks towards the edges.

Properties of mushrooms

This type of mushroom is very popular among us. It got its name due to its place of growth. Typically it can be found in large quantities near the stumps of different trees.

Based on natural conditions Production for the cultivation of honey mushrooms is being organized.

In addition to excellent taste qualities, mushrooms have a low calorie content and such a rich composition as:

Vitamin groups B, C and E;
Microelements - phosphorus, zinc, iron;
Amino acids;
Fiber;
Squirrels.

In terms of their composition, mushrooms can easily compete with various types of fish. This means that vegetarians can get the necessary microelements from honey mushrooms. Mushrooms have a positive effect on hematopoietic function. The daily dose of iron can be easily obtained from just 100 g of honey mushrooms.

Some types of these mushrooms can help strengthen hair, skin and eyes, while others can affect the body's immune and hormonal systems.

It is noteworthy that honey mushrooms are often used in folk medicine for the treatment of the thyroid gland, liver and cardiovascular system.

Photo again

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Mushrooms are a unique product. Their nutritional value comparable to meat, fish, fruits and vegetables. They contain a huge amount of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. By regularly eating mushrooms, you can forget about high cholesterol, and the minimum number of calories makes them not only tasty, but also a dietary product.

One of my favorites autumn mushrooms is a honey fungus. It is used in all sorts of ways: salted, pickled, frozen and even dried. The benefits of honey agaric are invaluable. Regular consumption of this mushroom can destroy the human body staphylococcal infection and E. coli, normalize the functioning of the thyroid gland. Autumn mushrooms are an excellent laxative, and late winter honey mushrooms, rich in proteins, have antiviral and anti-cancer effects.

But whether eating mushrooms will benefit you or harm you depends, first of all, on what ends up in your basket when you leave the forest. Even if you are not a fan " quiet hunt"and prefer to buy mushrooms, know distinctive features edible mushrooms from poisonous ones, in any case, is vital.

False honey mushrooms are very similar in appearance to “real” ones, but they contain toxins that poison the body. How to distinguish false honey mushrooms and edible? Let's figure it out.

Appearance

hat

Mushrooms growing on various surfaces, with different indicators humidity level and amount of penetrating sun rays, outwardly somewhat different from each other. However, there are characteristic features, by which it is always easy to identify the mushroom. The color of the cap of real honey mushrooms has a muted light brown tone with medium-sized dark scales. False honey mushrooms are most often found in brick-red or gray-yellow light.

Records

The plates of edible honey mushrooms are always light, cream or yellowish-white. Plates of false mushrooms in at a young age have yellow, and over time they acquire a greenish and then olive-black hue.

Leg

Perhaps all mushroom pickers know the identifying sign of the autumn honey fungus in the form of a “skirt” or “ring” on the snow-white stem of the mushroom, regardless of age and “quiet-hunting” experience. But not everyone knows the fact that false honey mushrooms also have barely noticeable remains of a ring. Therefore, if the mushroom’s ring is weakly expressed, it is still worth leaving it in the forest. In addition, if the honey mushroom's leg is 5-10 centimeters in height, then most likely this honey mushroom is false. Real honey fungus, as a rule, does not grow more than 4-6 centimeters, and meadow mushroom, too edible species, can be quite tall, up to 0.3 meters.

Smell

Real honey fungus has a pleasant, albeit harsh, mushroom aroma, while the false one has an earthy aroma. However, this sign cannot become fundamental when trying to distinguish a poisonous mushroom from an edible one, since smell is a subjective concept.

Taste

It is a common belief that poisonous mushrooms have a bitter taste. In fact, this is not always the case. For example, the taste of brick-red honey fungus is quite edible, and even some peoples eat it after careful processing, and the slight bitterness quickly disappears when soaked. But if you consider the danger that poisonous and conditionally edible mushrooms pose, you should still not consume them in any form.

Growing time

Honey mushrooms grow throughout calendar year, with the exception of periods characterized by severe frosts. The most active growth of real honey mushrooms occurs in September-October. False honey mushrooms appear in the spring for two months, and then in the fall, and each season has a specific type.

Rice. 1 - False honey fungus (poisonous)

Rice. 2 - Autumn honey fungus (non-poisonous)

Differences between false honey mushrooms and ordinary ones:

The false honey fungus has a brick-red or gray-yellow cap, rich yellow flesh and a stalk 5-10 centimeters high. Honey fungus is light brown in color with dark speckles in the center and has creamy flesh.
The leg of a true honey mushroom has a well-defined ring.
False honey fungus has a bitter taste and bad smell.

These mushrooms grow in large groups, forming rings. The most interesting thing is that in the honey mushroom subfamily there are mushrooms such as, for example, garlic. Like most other mushrooms, edible honey mushrooms have counterparts: inedible brick-red and sulfur-yellow false honey mushrooms, as well as poisonous mushrooms. Most of the doubles grow in the same way as real mushrooms, but there is a serious difference between them. This difference is very useful to know so as not to get poisoned or spoil the entire dish with an inedible bitter mushroom.

Honey mushrooms are false

The edible summer honey fungus has several doubles, one of them is sulphurous false honey fungus. This mushroom's cap color is approximately the same as that of the summer honey fungus, but the color of the plates changes and becomes gray. It is from the gray plates that the name of the mushroom comes. False honey fungus sulfur-plated never grows on deciduous trees. It is worth noting that this mushroom is considered conditionally edible, but it must be boiled before eating.

And here is another double, false honey fungus sulfur-yellow, not suitable for food. Although this mushroom does not contain poisons, it is inedible. The pulp of the mushroom smells unpleasant and has a very bitter taste. Because of such strong bitterness, sulfur-yellow false honey fungus can ruin the entire dish like gall fungus. Main distinctive features sulfur-yellow false honey fungus:

No ring on the leg.
The plates are yellow-green, gray, olive-black.
The color of the caps is too bright, practically screaming about the inedibility of the mushroom.

In addition to its conditionally edible and inedible counterparts, the summer honey fungus has very dangerous double – gallerina bordered. The similarity of this poisonous mushroom with edibles it’s very serious. If the edged galerina accidentally ends up in the basket, the cost of the mistake will be high: this mushroom contains a very dangerous poison - amatoxin (the same poison is found in the pale toadstool and the spring fly agaric).

To avoid mistakes, you need to remember a few nuances. Below the ring, the stalk of the poisonous mushroom is fibrous; in addition, galerina grows exclusively on rotten coniferous trees. Knowing these nuances, a mushroom picker will distinguish summer honey fungus from galerina.

The autumn or true honey fungus has conditionally edible counterparts:

Its stems are too fibrous for cooking or pickling, so the mushroom caps are used as food.

Marinated after pre-boiling

Also known as yellow-red row, a mushroom with a bitter aftertaste that can only be removed after a good soaking and boiling.

There is also inedible double, false brick-red honey fungus. This mushroom grows on the stumps of deciduous trees, sometimes on wood coniferous trees. The cap is brick-red, this color literally screams about the inedibility of the mushroom. The pulp of the false brick-red honey fungus has an unpleasant odor and bitter taste.

The meadow honey fungus, a mushroom from the genus Negniyuchnik (these honey mushrooms never grow on wood), has a very dangerous double. It's very poisonous whitish talker. It contains a lot of muscarine, more than fly agaric. You can distinguish the whitish talker from the meadow honey fungus by the color and shape of the cap, as well as by the more frequent plates. ,

Edible honey mushrooms

In spring in mixed or deciduous forests(dominant tree species are aspen or oak) mushrooms appear on a thin stalk - spring honey mushrooms, from the Negniuchnik family. These honey mushrooms grow on rotting leaves and rotting fallen trees. The leg is thin, elastic, the color of the cap is first brick, then yellow-brown.

It grows both on rotten wood and on living deciduous trees. Both types of mushrooms are of little value and are used as food as a kind of supplement for other mushrooms.

In April, numerous colonies appear on stumps and rotten wood summer honey fungus. This mushroom has a convex cap at first, then flat with a bulge in the center. The summer honey fungus has two distinctive features: a ring on the leg, as well as the color of the plates. At first the mushroom plates are creamy, then they turn brown. The pulp of the mushroom has a pleasant taste and a pleasant smell of living wood. Summer honey fungus sometimes it is valued even higher than its autumn counterpart.

The autumn honey fungus has a number of distinctive features:

The caps of adult mushrooms are very large, their diameter can reach up to 15 cm
A ring is clearly visible on the leg of the autumn honey fungus
The caps of old honey mushrooms appear moldy due to the white spores spilling out.

The color of the cap of autumn honey mushrooms is dim – gray-yellow or yellow-brown. In young mushrooms, the plates are white-yellow (cream), while in adults, the color of the plates is brown. The pulp of the mushroom has a pleasant taste and smell.

Autumn honey mushrooms are used as food both fresh and pickled.

Appear late autumn and in winter. Mushrooms grow on stumps or fallen trees. The main difference from autumn mushrooms is the absence of a ring on the stem. Wild mushrooms are boiled and then either fried and boiled, or pickled. It is also worth noting that winter honey mushrooms can be grown artificially, like champignons and oyster mushrooms. Domesticated winter honey fungus Tastier than its forest counterpart, and can also be used fresh for food.

In addition to typical honey mushrooms, there are also so-called “atypical” mushrooms that do not grow on wood. The most famous of them meadow honey fungus and garlic. The last variety of honey mushrooms received its name because of its characteristic smell.

Meadow mushrooms are used fresh and pickled, and garlic mushrooms are not only pickled and fried, but also dried.

Everyone knows the cost of making a mistake when picking mushrooms. Their poisonous representatives, consumed as food, can cause severe poisoning, therefore, special care must be taken when collecting them. False mushrooms that look very similar to real ones can also be misleading.

These forest gifts have plenty of “doubles”. Because of external resemblance It is very difficult to recognize them as edible representatives. To do this, you need to know the main distinctive features, tricks and secrets from experienced mushroom pickers that will help you not make mistakes.

Places and times of growth

Representatives of this variety are among the most common in our latitudes.

You can find edible gifts of nature in any forest that is older than 30 years. There are more than 200 species of trees on which they can grow. Usually the latter occupy dry trunks, stumps, dead wood, roots, and tree trunks.

The most common types of their growth are birch, pine, oak, and spruce.

They destroy dead wood, so they are considered forest orderlies. In the same place, these gifts of the forest can grow for no more than 15 years, during which mycelium of both edible and false mushrooms destroy the wood.

They grow very abundantly, so you can collect several kilos from one stump. If the mushrooms are young and their cap has not yet opened, they are collected with legs, and if they have already grown, they are collected without legs, since the latter have neither taste nor nutritional value.

Experienced mushroom pickers who “hunt” in the same places know that it is not worth collecting honey mushrooms from the “roots”, since the mycelium can be damaged. If you remove them correctly, it will bear fruit for many more years.

In total, there are more than 30 species of these representatives of their kingdom. This list includes both false honey mushrooms and summer, winter and autumn honey mushrooms, which are edible.

All of them live in forests, and only one variety - meadow - is found, accordingly, in meadows.

Characteristics of edible representatives

Nevertheless, meadow honey mushrooms can be distinguished from false ones, and here’s how to do it. The talker mushroom does not have a tubercle on the cap, and in the colibia, when you cut the flesh, you can smell an unpleasant odor, whereas in a real mushroom it resembles cloves or almonds.

"Doubles"

What representatives can the real one be confused with? forest dweller "? Here are the most common ones:

Sulfur yellow. They grow on stumps, as well as near them, and can be found on the trunks of rotting trees. The growth period is May – October. They can be found in the form of clustered groups or in columns. The diameter of each cap is 6 cm. They themselves look like this. In young representatives it is convex, its edges are slightly curved, and over time a tubercle appears on it. Their lower part is shrouded in a web in the form of a blanket. As for the pulp, it has an unpleasant odor and a sulfur-yellow color. Its structure is elastic, watery;
Seroplate. They usually occupy the roots and stumps of rotten trees. You can meet them in the forest from late summer to mid-autumn. These false mushrooms can be distinguished by the way their legs look. It is thin and long. The lower part of the cap is convex and is covered with a blanket. In a grown-up forest gift, the cap straightens, and its diameter increases to 8 cm. A young mushroom has a light yellow color, and a mature one is rusty-brown;
Brick red. They occupy rotten stumps or dead wood. They grow mainly in coniferous and deciduous forests, although they can also be found in mountainous and flat areas. They grow throughout almost the entire year, with the exception of winter cold. These false honey mushrooms have a rounded cap when they are young, and as they mature, it acquires a hemispherical shape. Its lower side is shrouded in a web in the form of a blanket, which may disappear over time. Mushrooms do not have any smell; their stalk is empty, which is their main difference. The cap plates have a yellowish color, which gives way to olive, then chocolate.

Criteria for distinction

Eat general rules choice. They will tell you how not to make mistakes and distinguish false honey mushrooms from real ones:

Smell. This aroma is called mushroom, but beginners may not know what it should be like, so you need to focus on personal sensations. The smell of real forest products should be pleasant. In the case of false ones, it smells like rot, wet earth, and often mold;
Color. Inedible gifts of nature can be tempting with too bright, beautiful colors. Among the real representatives of this kingdom it is not so rich;
Scales. The cap of edible honey mushrooms is covered with them, unlike their false representatives, which are also distinguished by the smoothness of the upper part. True, based on this criterion, you need to remember that with age, even adult real mushrooms can lose scales;
Records. False mushrooms have bright yellow, greenish or dark olive plates, while edible mushrooms have a creamy tint;
Skirt. It is believed that this is the most important criterion of difference. The real mushroom has a skirt, which the false one does not have. However, it must be taken into account that in adult edible gifts of nature it can also disappear with age.

Taste false mushrooms They are bitter and unpleasant, but there is no need to try them - try to find your bearings, taking into account all other criteria.