Hemp mushrooms: edible and false species

Honey mushrooms got their name because of the peculiarities of growth. The main habitat of these mushrooms are stumps, both rotten and living. That is why mushrooms are also called hemp mushrooms. Mushroom pickers love to collect honey mushrooms, as they grow in large groups and in almost the same place. If you find such a place, then believe me, several baskets or buckets with these valuable fruit bodies are provided for you.

Forest hemp mushrooms are considered a low-calorie product, but they are quite capable of replacing fish and meat. They are especially appreciated by vegetarians, as well as those who observe fasting and diet. The composition of honey mushrooms includes vitamins of group C, BB, E and PP, phosphorus, iron, zinc, potassium, a lot of protein, amino acids and fiber. All types of hemp mushrooms have a positive effect on human health. For example, with anemia it is recommended to use autumn mushrooms in order to improve blood formation processes. Only 100 g of these fruiting bodies per day will be able to maintain the level of hemoglobin in the blood.

In addition, autumn mushrooms growing on stumps are rich in a substance such as retinol, which can strengthen nails, hair, rejuvenate the skin and improve eyesight. Thanks to these types of mushrooms, the human body is enriched with vitamins C and E, which improve the hormonal and immune systems. Doctors recommend using hemp mushrooms for those who have discovered E. coli or Staphylococcus aureus. And the daily use of autumn hemp mushrooms prevents the development of cardiovascular diseases and the thyroid gland. In addition, mushrooms contain a substance that can fight benign and malignant tumors.

When is it better to collect forest foam mushrooms?

Novice mushroom pickers are interested in the question, when is it better to collect hemp mushrooms? Knowing this, the quality of the mushroom crop and its volume will always be 5+. Note that the harvesting season of these mushrooms will depend on the species of honey mushrooms and weather conditions. For example, autumn mushrooms grow from mid-August to mid-November, summer mushrooms - from mid-April to October, and winter mushrooms - from late October to March.

To summarize, the peak of hemp mushroom picking is in the autumn months, especially September and October. See the photo showing the autumn hemp mushrooms in the forest:

On the stumps of which trees honey mushrooms grow: birch, pine and other varieties

In addition, fans of the “silent hunt” wonder what kind of trees honey mushrooms grow on the stumps of. In this case, it would be wise to seek the advice of more experienced mushroom pickers. They will surely tell you about the cloudy mushroom places in the forest. Of course, the necessary information can be freely found in books and on the Internet, which will also help to “arm” with knowledge in the collection of fruiting bodies. So, almost all varieties of hemp mushrooms grow on weakened or damaged trees and stumps.For the habitat, they often choose dead or rotted wood of deciduous trees: birch, alder, elm, aspen, oak or beech. Less often, honey mushrooms grow on pine stumps or fallen tree trunks. Very often, these mushrooms are found in moist forests throughout Russia. Honey mushrooms do not grow only in the area of ​​eternal ice.

Honey mushrooms grow in huge colonies on hemp; occasionally they are found in small groups and even lonely specimens. If you find such a small group, do not leave immediately, take a good look around and you can see another cluster of fruiting bodies. Their cord-shaped mycelium is interconnected by tens of meters. Sometimes it is easy to notice under the bark of a stump or diseased plant. What are hemp mushrooms and how many species exist?

We note immediately that in Russia there are several varieties of hemp mushrooms, a video of which you can watch at the end of the article. This is a honey agaric autumn, summer, meadow, and also winter. However, only three species grow on stumps, except for meadow. This representative prefers to settle in moist ravines, in fields, in meadows, in gardens and even parks.

We offer you to familiarize yourself with the photo and description of hemp mushrooms:

Thanks to the presented photos, you can find out what hemp mushrooms look like.

What autumn hemp mushrooms look like and the season of their collection (with photo)

Latin name: Armillaria mellea.

Synonyms: real honey agaric, autumn flock, hemp mushroom.

Family: Fizalakrievye.

Gender: honey agaric (Armillaria).

Hat: diameter from 3 to 17 cm, has a convex shape, which then fully opens and becomes flat with wavy edges. Color varies from honey brown to olive green with a darker center. It is covered with light scales with a rare arrangement, which then disappear.

Leg: has a light yellow hue, which changes with age and becomes pink-brown. Length is from 8 to 12 cm, with a diameter of 1 to 2 cm. The upper part is lighter, darkens to the base and turns brown. The surface of the legs is also covered with scales. In the upper part, right under the hat, there is a narrow wrap-ring skirt.

Pulp: in young mushrooms, the pulp is white, dense. With the growth of the fungus, it becomes thinner. It has a pleasant smell and taste. If honey agarics grow on spruce or pine, then the color of the mushroom will be darker, and the taste of the pulp will be bitter.

Records: rare, attached to the leg, white.

Edibility: edible mushroom of the III category.

Application: from this type you can cook a wide variety of dishes and preparations for the winter. In addition, autumn trees are widely used in medicine.

Spread: parasites growing not only on stumps, but also on tree trunks, regardless of whether they are living trees or dead. Prefer moist forests of the Northern Hemisphere. Usually hemp mushrooms cause white rot on wood, which leads to the death of the tree. Sometimes it can parasitize on herbaceous plants. Edible hemp mushrooms mushrooms can be seen in the photo below:

Harvest Season: can be collected from August to November, when the daily temperature does not drop + 10 ° C. The peak of the mushroom picking season is all of September.

Many are interested in the question: on which stumps are autumn mushrooms growing? I would like to note that this type of fruiting bodies can choose any hardwood species, less often conifers. However, birch stumps are chosen as their favorite place for mushrooms to grow, in the photo it looks like this:

Where and how winter hemp mushrooms grow

Another type of hemp mushrooms is winter, which grows in the cold period of time. Winter hemp mushrooms are considered edible, and the photos presented below will help to consider them in more detail. Winter mushroom grows in deciduous as well as pine forests.

Latin name: Flammulina velutipes.

Synonyms: collibia velvet-footed, winter mushroom, enokitake.

Family: Fizalakrievye.

Gender: Flammulin.

Hat: diameter from 2 to 10 cm, flat in adults and convex in young ones.The main color is yellowish or orange-brown, and the middle is darker.

Leg: length from 2 to 8 cm, diameter from 0.2 to 1.5 cm. It has a cylindrical shape, dense, tubular. The color is brown, the upper part is lighter - a red-brown hue. The skirt on the stalk is present only in young mushrooms, while in adults it disappears with time.

Pulp: thin, with a pleasant smell and taste. Often the flesh is white or light yellow in color.

Records: adhered to the leg, can be shortened. Color varies from whitish to buffy.

Edibility: by taste, the mushroom belongs to 4 categories and is considered conditionally edible. However, it can be boiled, salted, fried, dried and pickled.

Harvest Season: from late October to early March, especially during thaws.

Spread: Where do hemp winter mushrooms grow? Usually these mushrooms settle on the dead wood of poplars or birches. They prefer moderate climatic zones in the territory of not only Russia, but also Belarus, as well as Ukraine.

Although it has already been noted how hemp mushrooms grow, I want to show that the winter species prefers to rise to a height. That is, honey mushrooms choose their place for growth not only on stumps, but also on trees, climbing to a height of up to 2-3 m.

Summer edible mushrooms

Known to all mushroom pickers, summer honey agaric is a popular type of hemp forest mushrooms.

Latin name: Kuehneromyces mutabilis.

Family: Strophariaceae.

Gender: Kuneromitses.

Hat: diameter from 2 to 9 cm, yellow-brown, with a lighter center. It absorbs moisture well and is considered hygrophanic, as it increases in size when absorbed. At a young age, the shape of the hat is convex with a well-visible tubercle in the center. As the hat grows, it becomes flat-convex. In wet weather, the surface of the hat becomes sticky.

Leg: thickness from 0.5 to 1 cm, length from 3 to 9 cm. It has a cylindrical curved shape, hollow inside, but stiff. On the brown leg there is a brown ring-skirt. The lower part of the leg has a dark brown shade.

Pulp: thin, white with a pleasant smell and taste.

Records: the color of the plates varies from light yellow at a young age, to rusty brown in mature. Young specimens have a cobwebbed cover that covers the plates. Usually the plates grow to the stem.

Edibility: edible mushroom, used in boiled, salted and pickled form.

Harvest Season: begin fruiting from early June to late September. Peak harvest occurs in the July and August months.

Spread: grow on rotten and decaying wood, on fallen trees and on stumps of deciduous trees. If weather conditions allow - bear fruit in large quantities.

However, all these types of fruiting bodies can be confused with false representatives. Pay attention to the photo of false hemp mushrooms, thanks to which you can see a number of differences from edible species:

How to distinguish edible hemp mushrooms from false ones (with photo and video)

How to distinguish hemp mushrooms from false doubles? The main difference is the skirt ring on the leg, which is only found in edible representatives of fruiting bodies. It follows that the false counterparts of these fungi do not have such a ring. However, there are other differences that help mushroom pickers to recognize an "enemy."

For example, the smell of false hemp mushrooms is unpleasant, with an earthy tint. The taste is bitter, but experts do not recommend trying them.

The color of false hemp mushrooms is much brighter than that of their edible counterparts. Hats of false doubles do not have scales, however, note that adult specimens of edible mushrooms also practically do not have scales.

The most common false doubles of hemp mushrooms include:

Sulfur yellow, seroplate

brick red, watery, as well as Candol's False Foam.

All these honey mushrooms have plates of a dark color: from sulfur yellow to black olive.

How do false hemp mushrooms grow and which hemp are chosen? It is worth saying that they grow in the same way as edible species - in large groups on old, rotten stumps or fallen deciduous trees, rarely conifers.

All methods showing how to distinguish hemp mushrooms from false counterparts, each mushroom picker should be used with extreme caution. Indeed, in the collection of mushrooms you need to have a lot of experience. Therefore, if you are not sure which mushroom is in front of you, do not take it at all.

Although some types of false counterparts are considered conditionally edible, i.e., low quality mushrooms, everyone should remember that the harmlessness of these fruiting bodies has not yet been proven. Therefore, in order not to risk your health and the health of loved ones, do not take false hemp mushrooms in their baskets.