How chanterelle mushrooms grow and how to collect them
Since ancient times, our ancestors identified this fungus by yellow-red color and therefore called the "fox". It can be found throughout Russia, and it has not changed in appearance at all, it also resembles an inverted umbrella or a curved funnel of irregular shape. How do chanterelle mushrooms grow and how do they look?
Chanterelles for experienced mushroom pickers have always been considered healthy and tasty mushrooms. In their composition they have bitterness, which does not allow insects and worms to feast on juicy fruit bodies. Therefore, mushrooms are almost never spoiled. If you know how the chanterelles grow in the forest, you can pick up more than one basket of these fragrant fruit bodies, and then make them delicious preservation. You can cook any dishes from chanterelles, as well as make many preparations for the winter. Them pickle, salted, dried, frozen, fried, boiled, stewed and added to salads. They also cook delicious mushroom soups and sauces.
In this article, you can get information about where chanterelle mushrooms grow, as well as how to distinguish edible representatives from their false counterparts. In addition, you can see several photos showing how the chanterelle mushrooms grow in the forest, and learn the features of their collection.
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How quickly chanterelles grow and how they look
The chanterelle harvesting season begins in mid-summer and lasts until mid-October. These fruiting bodies are amazing in their structure, because during prolonged rains they do not rot, and in a drought they do not dry. Watch a video on how chanterelles grow in summer and autumn, hiding under fallen leaves or needles:
It is worth saying that chanterelles grow quickly, like all other mushrooms, especially after warm rains. These fruiting bodies always look fresh, juicy and attractive. Especially pleasing to mushroom pickers is that they are not wormy. Chanterelles are fragile mushrooms, with the exception of the most common species - yellowing chanterelles. She is not afraid if she is crushed, so you can safely collect such representatives even in plastic bags.
For beginner mushroom pickers, it is always very important to know the answer to the question, where and how do chanterelles grow? This is quite logical, because if a person first gathers in the forest for mushrooms, he must know all the subtleties of collecting. These fruiting bodies grow in deciduous, mixed and even coniferous forests throughout Russia and Ukraine. Very often they are found in birch groves.
As already noted, chanterelles grow quite quickly, however, the growth process itself will depend on a number of factors - soil condition, air temperature, humidity, etc. Usually it is typical for them to be in the shade of trees, although if the summer turned out to be rainy, they even open glades and edges feel great. Chanterelles, like some species of mushrooms, grow in large groups.Having found only 1 specimen, take a good look around: next to under the leaves, moss or branches, you will definitely find many more fruit bodies. Thus, on one small one you can collect more than one bucket of these beautiful and juicy mushrooms. However, it is not advisable to collect chanterelles that have grown near highways or near factories. Having an attractive appearance and being completely edible, such mushrooms will bring harm to your health - they absorb salts of heavy metals and all harmful substances from the environment.
Mushroom pickers with experience, knowing how chanterelle mushrooms grow in the forest, give practical advice to their less experienced colleagues.
- Cut the mushrooms with a knife very carefully, 1.5-2 cm above the ground, so as not to damage the mycelium. If the chanterelles are uprooted, a lot of sand and dry earth gets into the plates, which can affect the taste of the mushrooms during cooking.
- It is not necessary to collect overgrown chanterelles, but you do not need to leave them in the ground. It is better to cut the mushroom, hang it on a branch of a nearby tree so that spores spill out. After 2 years at this place you can collect a new crop of delicious chanterelles.
Chanterelles themselves are remarkable mushrooms that can be easily recognized by their yellow or yellow-orange color. The hat is irregular in shape with wavy edges, with plates descending directly to the middle of the leg. Young mushrooms have a flat hat, which acquires the shape of a funnel with age. To visualize how chanterelle mushrooms grow, look at the photo:
How false chanterelles grow and how to distinguish them from real ones
However, among the edible chanterelles can be found and false counterparts. How do false chanterelles grow and what is their difference from real ones? The false appearance of the chanterelles has a thin and hollow leg, as well as brighter colors, sometimes it is an orange-red hue. The hats of such mushrooms are smooth, almost round, do not at all resemble a funnel. But the most important distinguishing feature is the unpleasant smell of pulp. Therefore, in order not to poison, it is better to avoid false chanterelles.
An interesting factor showing that you will never find chanterelles in the forest is the growth of blueberry bushes. For an unknown reason, these mushrooms do not tolerate the presence of this berry.
If there was little rain in the summer and the weather became arid, chanterelles, as mentioned above, do not dry out, but simply stop their growth and wait until the rains begin again. They are easy to find in lowlands or in forests near rivers and lakes, as well as in temperate forests. In addition, chanterelles under favorable conditions grow very quickly, up to about 2-3 cm per day. After the past rain, you can go to the forest on the third day and collect fruiting bodies in large quantities.
Now, knowing how and where the chanterelles grow, you can begin to plan your trip, and then boldly go to the nearest forest.
