How to identify edible and poisonous mushrooms. How to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones with photos and videos

After the rains that have covered Estonia these days, mushrooms will probably appear, so let's get ready. To make it easier to distinguish an edible mushroom from a false one, use this infographic-memo, which you will find below...

Even experienced mushroom pickers wonder whether they found a real mushroom or a false one. Inedible look-alikes whites look like noble mushrooms like two peas in a pod. Sometimes the false mushroom is not poisonous, but it is bitter. If it gets into the soup, you can pour out the whole pan; you won’t be able to put it in your mouth. But some doubles are very poisonous. For example, false honey mushrooms or toadstools, similar to champignons. Here you need to double-check everything carefully. The main rule of a mushroom picker: if in doubt, don’t take it. It is better to be left without mushrooms than to end up in a hospital bed.

Reliable methods for distinguishing between edible and poisonous mushrooms not by eye, so the only way out is to know each of the mushrooms. If the species identity of mushrooms is in doubt, you should never eat them. Fortunately, among the hundreds of species found in nature, many have such clearly defined characteristics that it is difficult to confuse them with others. However, it is better to always have a mushroom identification guide on hand to distinguish poisonous mushroom from an edible mushroom.

How to identify poisonous mushrooms

1 - paneolus; 2 - gray float; 3 - glowing talker; 4 - common veselka; 5 - death cap; 6 - white fly agaric (spring).

7 - red fly agaric; 8 - variegated champignon; 9 - russula emetic; 10 - value; 11 - entoloma.

How to identify edible mushrooms

1 – breast; 2 – camelina; 3 – cone mushroom; 4 – greenish russula; 5 – edible russula; 6 – fox.

7 – oiler; 8 – morel; 9 - White mushroom; 10 – large umbrella; 11 – row; 12 – field champignon.

Only those who have at least once gone to quiet hunt, knows how exciting and enjoyable this is. Real hunting excitement, delight from every strong white or boletus found, pleasant fatigue, and the incomparable pleasure of walking around autumn forest, painted with the most wonderful colors and exuding the most unimaginable smells. However, here too there is a “fly in the ointment”: false and poisonous mushrooms. To ensure that the pleasure of a quiet hunt is not overshadowed after the meal, you need to learn to have a good understanding of edible and poisonous mushrooms.

What you need to know about mushrooms? There are two reasons why you need to have a good understanding of mushrooms before you start actively collecting them. The most important thing is, of course, safety. Among the poisonous mushrooms there are those whose consumption can lead to rapid death. The second reason is more practical - you won’t have to fill your cart full. edible mushrooms, you will have to carry this weight with you through the forest. And it will be very disappointing and unpleasant when it turns out that all the contents of the basket will have to be thrown away. Yes, and just don’t rip it off inedible mushrooms, because what is not suitable for human food is often used forest inhabitants as food or "medicine".

All mushrooms are divided into three groups - edible, highly poisonous and slightly poisonous. Edible mushrooms and the most popular among mushroom pickers include porcini mushrooms, boletus mushrooms, aspen mushrooms, milk mushrooms, honey mushrooms, and chanterelles. In Russia, mushroom lovers collect more than 100 types of mushrooms, but this is the lot of those who are well versed in them. For a novice mushroom picker, you need to take several types as a basis and have a good understanding of how to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones.

Poisonous mushrooms.
First you need to understand which mushrooms are poisonous and simply avoid them in the forest. The most dangerous mushroom is the pale grebe. One small mushroom is enough for the whole family to be poisoned by the dish in which it fell. Fortunately, the grebe has a very characteristics and it is very easy to distinguish it from other mushrooms. The long graceful stem of this mushroom has a “skirt” under the cap, and at the base the stem is inserted into a “cup.” While the russula, with which the toadstool is most often confused, has a smooth straight leg without similar features. Therefore, before picking such a mushroom, clear the grass and foliage at the base of the mushroom and see whether the stem goes into the ground or grows “from a cup” and whether there is a “skirt”.

Poisonous very similar to the pale grebe stinky fly agaric. It has a pale yellow color and a conical cap. When broken, the mushroom emits a very unpleasant odor, which is why it got its name. This is the most insidious of the fly agarics and is least similar to the bright, beautiful red and green fly agarics we are used to, which, like their stinking brother, are very poisonous.

The easiest way to understand that this is Patouillard fiber, another very poisonous mushroom, is if you come across a whole family where mushrooms of different ages grow nearby. Young fibers have cone-shaped caps that are whitish in color, but as they grow, the cap straightens and changes color. In an adult mushroom it becomes yellow, and in an old mushroom it becomes red. The stem always has the same color as the cap and is greatly expanded downwards.

Another poisonous mushroom is the waxy govorushka. This beautiful mushroom white in color, which has a pleasant taste and smell. His distinctive feature is that the plates located at the bottom of the cap smoothly fit onto the stem, merging with it.

Double mushrooms (false).
False mushrooms are most often mildly poisonous; they are not capable of causing serious damage to health, but they are quite capable of spoiling a dish with an unpleasant taste or causing intestinal upset.

Beginning mushroom pickers often take gall mushroom for white or boletus. The underside of the gall mushroom cap has pinkish-colored tubes. Brown, while in the porcini mushroom they are yellow. On the fault, the cap also has pink color, which does not happen with edible counterparts.

Edible and false honey mushrooms are very similar to each other. Edible honey mushrooms always have a brown color, while false ones are pale green or yellow. This mushroom has a bitter taste.

Inexperienced mushroom pickers are often deceived by the appearance and yellowing of the false champignon. Distinguish it from edible champignon only by smell. U false mushroom he's pretty nasty.

False chanterelles are also common in our forests. They differ from edible ones in their brighter color - yellow, turning into orange - and in their smooth, neat shape. While edible mushrooms have a more “ragged” and irregular shape and less pronounced color saturation.

Eat general rules, which can be used to guide you on a quiet hunt. If the mushroom is very hard and smells bad, there is a high probability that it is poisonous. But, as with any rule, there are some exceptions. There is a group of mushrooms that are considered conditionally poisonous. That is, they require mandatory processing before consumption. Such processing completely eliminates the content toxic substances or bitterness. These mushrooms include trumpets, milk mushrooms, morels and other mushrooms that have excellent taste qualities. Some of them just need to be soaked in water to dissolve unnecessary substances, some are dried and heat treatment. Each mushroom requires a special approach.

Distinguishing edible mushrooms from inedible ones is not always easy. The fact is that their shape, size and color are influenced by many factors: place of growth, time of year and even weather. Therefore, the most reliable way to learn to distinguish mushrooms is to know their anatomy. It’s good if they are purchased under the guidance of an experienced mushroom picker.

How many lovers are waiting for the start of the season to walk through the forest in search of saffron milk caps or saffron milk caps. Fry chanterelles, pickle milk mushrooms, marinate boletus to enjoy in winter festive table. Unfortunately, not everything ends well if you don’t know what you have collected. Arm useful knowledge Every mushroom eater must know how to distinguish inedible species.

How to distinguish poisonous mushrooms from edible ones

You should not go into the forest if you do not know how to determine whether a mushroom is poisonous or not. Ask an experienced person to take you on a quiet hunt. In the forest thicket he will tell you about edible varieties and show what they look like. Read books or find information on websites. This is the only way to protect your loved ones and yourself from mortal danger. Even one inedible specimen in a basket can lead to disaster if you do not distinguish it and cook it with others.

Inedible species dangerous because they can provoke food poisoning, cause disruption of the central nervous system, lead to death. Experienced mushroom pickers recommend following the following rules when collecting:

don’t taste it – you can get poisoned instantly;
do not take if in doubt;
do not cut dry, overripe specimens - it is difficult to determine their identity;
do not collect everything in the hope of figuring it out at home;
visit the forest with experienced people;
do not collect specimens with a thickened stem at the bottom;
Before departure, refresh your knowledge about the characteristics of the species.

What do edible mushrooms look like?

Experienced lovers of quiet forest hunting know how to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones. You can’t go wrong, you can put the copy you like in the basket, and then cook it if:

there is a “skirt” on the leg;
under the cap there is a layer of a tubular appearance;
it gives off a pleasant smell;
the caps have a characteristic appearance and color for their variety;
insects were noticed on the surface - bugs and worms.

There are varieties that are very famous and popular in the middle forest zone. They are known and collected, although among them there are specimens that have dangerous doubles. To obtain unique taste, required different ways preparations. Among your favorite types you can distinguish:

white - boletus;
milk mushroom;
saffron milk cap;
boletus;
honey fungus;
boletus;
oiler;
wave;
fox;
Russula.

What mushrooms are poisonous?

How to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones? Poisonous varieties are often recognized by the following characteristics:

color – have an unusual or very bright color;
sticky cap in some varieties;
change in the color of the leg - when cut, an unnatural color appears;
absence of worms and insects inside and on the surface - they do not tolerate mushroom poison;
smell - it can be fetid, medicinal, chlorine;
absence of a tubular layer under the cap.

Inedible varieties contain toxic substances. It is necessary to carry out the collection very carefully, to know the special signs of dangerous specimens in order to distinguish them:

pale grebe - fatally poisonous, has a greenish or olive-colored cap, a thickened stem at the bottom;
satanic - different from white in red colors;
red fly agaric - has a bright cap with white dots, provokes the destruction of brain cells;
thin pig – has hallucinogenic properties when interacting with alcohol;
Amanita muscaria smells like chlorine and is very poisonous.

How to distinguish mushrooms

Among the variety of species, you can find poisonous specimens - doubles, similar to species suitable for consumption. How to distinguish between edible and inedible mushrooms in this case? The similarity can be distant or very close. The edible varieties of twins are:

white – satanic, bilious;
moss mushrooms, boletus - pepper;
chanterelles - false chanterelles;
milk mushrooms - waxy talkers;
mushrooms - fly agarics;
honey mushrooms - false honey mushrooms.

How to distinguish a false white mushroom

Inexperienced mushroom pickers may confuse a strong boletus with false species, although they are not very similar. A true white specimen is strong, dense, and grows in groups, sometimes forming a path. Distinguished by its hat, the bottom is exclusively olive, yellow, and white. Its flesh is firm, dense, and has a pleasant smell. If you make a cut, it will be white.

There are two types of false:

Gall - has a pinkish tint. There is a dark mesh on the surface of the leg.
Satanic - with a strong smell of rotten onion, distinguished by a velvety cap and yellow or red flesh. The leg is thickened at the bottom. It has a very bright color that varies in height from rich red to shades of green and yellow.

How to recognize the false chanterelle mushroom

How to determine edible and inedible mushrooms, if both look bright and elegant? How are chanterelles similar and by what characteristics can they be distinguished? Characteristics of an inedible variety are:

a bright, velvety, orange hat;
smaller diameter - about 2.5 cm;
pulp with unpleasant smell;
leg tapering downwards;
hat that looks like a funnel smooth edges;
absence of worms - contains chitinmannose - an anthelmintic substance.

Edible chanterelles grow in groups in mixed, coniferous forests. They often have large specimens with a hat up to 10 cm. They are distinguished by:

a thick, dense leg that is never hollow;
the hat is lowered down, has lumpy edges, the color is dim - from light yellow to pale orange;
the plates are dense, descending to the stem;
The flesh is red when pressed.

How to distinguish between edible and poisonous honey mushrooms

The correct identification of honey mushrooms is particularly difficult, since several are collected. edible varieties having different shapes. They grow on stumps, tree trunks, in grass, often in large groups. Good mushrooms can be distinguished by:

caps from light beige to brown with dark scales;
ring on the leg;
cream or white plates under the cap;
pleasant smell.

Inedible honey mushrooms often grow singly. The difference from edible ones is the absence of a ring on the stem. Other Features inedible varieties:

brightly colored hat, red, orange, rusty brown, sticky and smooth after rain;
dark plates – green olive-black, yellow;
musty odor;
spots on the cap are black.

Video: how to check mushrooms for edibility

Before you go into the forest, you need to be firmly sure which mushrooms are edible. Photos of mushrooms, with names, descriptions, information about the place of growth will help you understand this difficult process. If you are not careful about these truly delicious gifts of nature, it is very easy to make mistakes, because a mushroom growing in the shade can differ significantly from its warm counterpart sun rays, A old mushroom doesn't look young at all.
When picking mushrooms, you need to carefully look at the color of the cap, crumb, plates and even rings on the stem. But the smell can let you down; sometimes poisonous mushrooms smell very pleasant, and this can be misleading

Mushrooms are divided into:

Edible;
Inedible;
Conditionally edible.

Edible mushrooms, photo and name, and description, of course, will help you decide when identifying a valuable food product rich in proteins and vitamins, minerals and aromatics. The number of edible mushrooms reaches 500 species, but no more than 100 species are known to a wide circle, and to most mushroom pickers no more than 10-15.
Great lovers and connoisseurs of mushrooms will always help a beginner understand their findings, but one should not trust them completely; mistakes are human. Therefore, by carefully looking at the photo and remembering exactly what the most common and valuable mushrooms look like, you can easily and independently decide on the edibility of a mushroom.

Mushrooms are divided into

Marsupials or ascomycetes.
Morels and stitches belong to this family. Most morels are good, edible mushrooms, but strings without first boiling can be poisonous.
Truffles are also wonderful, delicious edible mushrooms with a tuberous body.
Basidiomycetes
It is to this class that most of the edible and tasty mushrooms familiar to us belong.

Family Agaricaceae or Champignonaceae

This family includes probably the most popular and famous mushroom champignon. Translated from French, it’s called a mushroom. Fleshy, large, white, with wide, loose plates under the cap. This mushroom has been cultivated by humans for over 200 years. Distributed in steppes and forest-steppes on manured, rich nutrients soil.
Champignon can be forest, elegant, two-ringed, thin, and the most valuable are:
Meadow or ordinary. The cap of a young mushroom is from 2 to 6 cm, spherical, with age it becomes prostrate and increases to 12 cm. White, dry, clean, finely scaly. When broken, the white flesh turns slightly pink and emits a pleasant smell. The plates are slightly pink, wide. The mushroom stalk is widened at the base, white, ringed;
Augustovsky. It differs from the others in that with age the cap becomes scaly with a more intense color in the center.

Boletaceae family
Types of edible mushrooms, photos and names from this family are familiar to many.

Oil can

(gray, grainy, swamp and others), but the most delicious is considered to be real or autumn butterdish. The cap of the mushroom is covered with a film, slippery, brown, shiny in front cooking needs to be removed. The cap of a young mushroom itself is slightly spherical, and with age it becomes spread out. The tubular layer is light yellow to olive in color, covered with a white veil. The pulp is white to yellow-creamish. Fruits productively, especially in rainy summer and autumn in pine plantings, on sandy soils.

White (boletus)

Depending on the place of growth, its forms may differ in the cap, the shape of the stem, and the mesh pattern. This mushroom can be found both in summer and autumn, both in pine forest so it is in the oak forest, and his hat will depend on this. But it grows in groups, where one is there and the other is not related. But it is “white” because under any circumstances the color of its flesh does not change and remains snow-white.
The mushroom cap is spherical, and as it ages, it becomes flat. But the lower part, the pipes, turn slightly yellow as they age. The stem of the mushroom is covered with a mesh, from light brown to burgundy

Polish

Delicious, beautiful and very aromatic. Its qualities are not inferior to white. The mushroom is not picky about its surroundings; it grows under pine and oak trees, both in summer and autumn. The cap resembles a convex brown mucous pillow, and in dry times it dries out.
Polish can be easily distinguished from all others by the bluish coloration appearing in the place where the tubular area was injured. The tubes themselves are initially light yellow, and then become more intense green color. When cut, the pulp also turns blue and then becomes brownish.
The stem of the mushroom is dense, strong, white in young mushrooms, and slightly yellowed in old ones. The smell of this mushroom is no different from a real porcini mushroom.

boletus

White, pinkish, marsh, gray and many other of its brothers grow on wet soils, both under pines and birches, both singly and crowded. Depending on its proximity to the tree, the mushroom cap can be dark brown, brown, or light yellow. When it is humid, the hat is wet; in dry weather, it is dry. Sometimes the mushroom grows, but the cap seems to lag behind, then the flesh with the tubes is exposed and turns out slightly.
When cut, the mushroom is light in color, but as it weathers it turns pink and then darkens. The tubes are jagged at the ends, gray-brown. The leg is scaly, light, up to 5 cm in height. A young fungus has a thickened stalk at the bottom, which becomes slimmer with age.

Boletus

The name is completely unrelated to aspen trees; the mushroom can grow under different trees in mixed forests.
The cap of this mushroom can be either brown or red, yellow-brown or just brown. The young mushroom is bright, juicy, rich in color, convex in shape, and large. With age, it becomes smaller, as if drying out, and becomes much paler. The flesh is white, but turns pink when cut. The leg is long, dense, white with gray-brown scales.
The fungal tubes are small, at a young age gray, and then gray-brown.

White boletus

Significantly different from its counterparts. Very large, with a fleshy top, white or with a slight pinkish-grayish tint. The underparts with small pores are white when young, then slightly grayish.
The leg is slender downwards with a widening, the flesh of the base of the leg is blue, reaching black.
White boletus is usually more autumnal than all the others.
There are also at least 150 species of inedible and even poisonous mushrooms. Some inedible mushrooms are not poisonous at all, but their smell and taste are so disgusting that they cannot be eaten.

Moss fly green

It can be either brown or red, olive green or burgundy. With a small convex, matte and dry cap. Tubular sublayer with large pores yellow color, turns blue when subjected to mechanical stress.
The leg is dark gray with a green tint, with small scales in the upper part.
A summer-autumn mushroom, sometimes until frost. It grows in both mixed and purely coniferous forests.

Moss fly brown

It is very similar to the previous one, but its flesh does not turn blue, but the tubes become blue when pressed.

Kozlyak

The cap is brown with dark and light shades, slimy in rain and matte, velvety in dry weather.
The pulp is elastic, yellow. Tubes with a yellow and greenish tint. The leg is smooth and even.
Loves damp places in coniferous forests.
Family Strophariaceae
Mostly edible mushrooms are included in this family. However large category Experts classify them as “conditionally edible mushrooms.” The fact is that the same honey fungus only has edible hat and 2-3 cm of the stem, closer to the cap, the rest of the mushroom is not edible. On the other hand, if porcini mushrooms can be safely eaten raw, then conditionally edible mushrooms should be boiled in salted water for at least 40 minutes with the obligatory draining of the water, or even better twice for 20-25 minutes each with changing the water.

Summer honey fungus

Like all strophariids, the honey fungus loves company. These mushrooms grow in large groups; mushroom pickers are very fond of collecting these “seeds”. These mushrooms can be harvested from mid-summer until frost. The favorite place to grow is old wood, stumps, and the base of dried trees.
The young fungus has a hemispherical hat, its edges bend and turn into a veil that covers the plates. The mushroom can be any shade of brown with a transition to either yellow or olive green. The plates of the fungus are thin and frequent. A young mushroom wears a ring from the veil; with age, it falls off, leaving a slight trace.
The stem of the mushroom can reach 10 cm, and in diameter no more than 1 cm. When cut, the stem is filled, and only as it ages, it becomes hollow.
The body of the mushroom is soft with a very pleasant mushroom smell, watery during the rainy season.
All summer and autumn honey mushrooms are very similar to each other, but the dark honey fungus is a more powerful mushroom and grows both in a family and alone.
Russula family

Gruzd

Sometimes this mushroom is called " Real mushroom, king mushroom." These mushrooms are classified as lactiferous, since a burning, milky juice is released when cut. The plates are smooth and white. The cap can reach 20-25 cm. The stem of the mushroom is white and dense.
The milkweed can be aspen, black, moor-headed, they all grow near birch trees. To remove the milky juice, I first soak or boil them, then salt them.

Russula

Forked, fading, brittle, yellow-blue, edible, green, browning, all these russulas differ from each other depending on the region of growth, soil, climate and even weather conditions. They have very fragile flesh. Prefer sandy soils, singly, on the edges, along paths. The name russula does not mean at all that this mushroom can be eaten raw. Some experts classify it as conditionally edible.

Chanterelle
The mushroom is yellow to yellow-orange in color, in dry and sunny weather it is light yellow to white. The cap is funnel-shaped, usually not quite regular in shape, reaching up to 10 cm in diameter. The fleshy, smooth cap has dense, same-colored flesh.
Among the mosses, in the coniferous forests favorite place growth.

What mushrooms are edible?

Each fungal family has both edible and inedible mushrooms. Without certain knowledge and experience, using only an atlas for identification, it is very difficult to study the world of mushrooms and determine their edibility.
Information about whether a mushroom is edible or conditionally edible can be very contradictory. In any case, when picking mushrooms, be vigilant; if you do not know the mushroom or you are in doubt, it is better to skip it.
This does not mean at all that you need to give up going to the forest to pick mushrooms. Having filled the basket with mushrooms, be sure to consult with experts, local residents, look through the atlas, you can even send photos and descriptions to the Internet, and only when you are confident can you begin culinary preparations.

There is an opinion that in order to understand how to distinguish an edible mushroom from an inedible one, you need to boil it with onions, and if the onion turns black, then the mushroom is inedible. It is not true. Mushroom poisons do not affect the color of onions at all. Moreover, there are poisons that are not digested into liquid at all, but remain in the mushroom body.
Sometimes poisoning from edible mushrooms occurs. This happens completely not due to ignorance of mushrooms. The fact is that the mushroom, by its nature, tends to accumulate toxins, as well as salts of heavy metals, and it is these poisons that lead to severe poisoning. Therefore, when giving preference to a place for collecting mushrooms, avoid places contaminated with human waste. Landfills and garbage heaps, which unfortunately increasingly fill forests, are completely unsuitable for collecting mushrooms, although the mushrooms themselves grow happily there.

Mushroom picking, or “silent hunting,” is a very popular activity for those who like to pamper themselves with one or another delicacy. Only those who have been on a “silent hunt” at least once in their life know that this activity can rightfully be called exciting and entertaining: it is a real delight from the next found oil can or chanterelle, it is excitement, it is a pleasant fatigue that gives incredible pleasure from such a walk... However, every “barrel of honey” also has its own “fly in the ointment”. Today we will learn how to distinguish from inedible ones.

Instruction

Each one comes with some risk. Being able to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones is a skill that each of us should have if we decide to go on a “silent hunt” at least once. Otherwise, the pleasure of this activity and a delicious meal will turn into tragedy...

How to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones?

Why do you need to know this?

For two simple reasons! The most important of them is your own safety, because among edible and inedible mushrooms there are those whose consumption will lead to instant death. Another reason is that ignorance will force you to trudge through the forest with a full and heavy basket of inedible rotten mushrooms. Question: do you need this?

Edible and inedible mushrooms

Both names and appearance for such mushrooms they are almost always the same. How then can you tell them apart? First of all, you need to know their classification! All mushrooms are divided into four groups according to the degree of their edibility.

Edible. Such mushrooms can be eaten without pre-processing. Collected, cleaned - and into a frying pan or pan!
Conditionally edible. In their raw form, these are bitter and poisonous mushrooms. They must be boiled, because only in this case will they become suitable for consumption.
Inedible. These representatives of the mushroom kingdom are distinguished by an unpleasant taste, smell and rather hard flesh.
Poisonous. These products are toxic. The poison is not removed from them even after pre-treatment.

Now let's find out how to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones using the example of the most popular of them.

Learning to distinguish

And finally

So, friends, now we know how to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones. Be careful and do not pick mushrooms that you are not completely sure about! Good luck to you!