Types of edible autumn mushrooms and the time of their collection
Autumn mushrooms are well-known to everyone - this is not one, but the totality of species, of which there are more than 40 in the world. About 10 species of these fruiting bodies can be noted on the territory of the Russian Federation, however, such information will be of interest only to scientists, but not so with mushroom pickers. The latter are concerned only with how to distinguish edible mushrooms from false ones. And only the most advanced mushroom pickers can notice that the edible species of autumn mushrooms have differences among themselves. Sometimes these differences are so insignificant that specialists have to check the disputes of two different species of honey mushrooms for crossing ...
Our article presents photos and descriptions of edible autumn mushrooms. After reviewing the above information, you can have an idea about the appearance of these fruiting bodies, their places of growth, and also the fruiting season. We have chosen the types of autumn mushrooms most common in Russia, which are most popular among mushroom pickers.
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Autumn wrap (real or hemp)
Autumn or present honey agaric is the most famous among all representatives of its kind. This is a very tasty edible mushroom that lends itself perfectly to various processing processes: pickling, salting, freezing, drying, frying, etc.
Latin name: Armillaria mellea.
Family: Physalacriaceae (Physalacriaceae).
Synonyms: real honey agaric, autumn.
Hat: reaches a diameter of 4-12 cm (sometimes up to 15 and even 17 cm), initially convex, and then opens and becomes flat, forming wavy edges. Sometimes in the center of the hat you can observe a tubercle, speck or small brown scales. The color of the skin ranges from beige to honey-brown and gray-brown. Below the photo shows the autumn mushroom mushroom:
Please note that at a young age, the surface of the cap of the fruit body is covered with rare white scales, which disappear with age.
Leg: thin, fibrous, up to 10 cm high and 1-2 cm thick, slightly expanded at the base. The surface is light or yellow-brown in color, and a darker shade is observed in the lower part. Like a hat, the leg is covered with small light scales. Often, autumn mushrooms grow together with their legs at the base.
Pulp: young specimens are dense, white, pleasant in taste and smell. With age, it becomes thin, acquiring a rough texture.
Records: rare, adherent to the leg or slightly drooping.Young mushrooms have plates of white or cream color, which darken with age and become covered with brown spots. In addition, the plates are covered with a film that, in old fruiting bodies, comes off the hat, hanging like a ring on a leg.
Application: widely used in cooking and medicine. The mushroom is marinated, salted, dried and frozen perfectly. It makes delicious first and second courses that are not inferior in taste even to porcini mushrooms and saffron mushrooms. In addition, all varieties of autumn mushrooms have pronounced medicinal properties.
Edibility: edible mushroom 3 categories.
Similarities and differences: the spruce can be confused with a flake of fleecy. However, the latter differs from the honey agaric in the increased amount of scales on the surface of the fruiting body, as well as a pungent odor resembling a radish. And although the flake also belongs to edible mushrooms (only after heat treatment), it is still not as tasty as the shade.
Spread: from subtropics to the North, it does not grow only in the permafrost zone. Found in moist deciduous forests: on stumps, fallen trees and branches. Most often it is a parasite, affecting more than 200 species of trees and shrubs, rarely act as saprophytes, settling on already dead wood. Felling coniferous forests does not pass by.
Interestingly, but still autumn mushrooms are called hemp. This is logical, because basically they prefer to grow on stumps. It should be noted that the color of the fruiting body will depend on the type of wood on which it has settled. So, poplar, acacia or mulberry gives honey honey a yellow hue, oak a brown hue, elderberry dark gray, and coniferous trees a brown-red hue.
What the northern autumn mushrooms look like: photo and description of legs and hats
The following photo and description belongs to the honey agarics of the northern autumn - the popular edible mushrooms of the genus Openok.
Latin name: Armillaria borealis.
Family: Physalacrya.
Hat: convex, 5-10 cm in diameter, yellow-brown or orange-brown, it is often possible to observe an olive shade. In the center, the hat is lighter than the edges. The surface is covered with small scales, which are 1-2 tones darker than the main color. The largest accumulation of scales is observed precisely in the center of the cap. The edges are slightly ribbed and rough, dirty dark yellow in color.
Leg: cylindrical, thin, sometimes expanding at the base, up to 10 cm in height and up to 1.5 cm in thickness. The surface is dry, brownish with yellow-white pubescence. There is a skirt ring characteristic of all edible species, which becomes filmy with age, and felt scales are observed along the edges.
The photo shows how the edible autumn mushrooms of this species look:
Pulp: dense, white or beige, vaguely reminiscent of compressed cotton wool. It has a pronounced pleasant "mushroom" taste and smell.
Records: in young specimens, white, with age become ocher-cream.
Edibility: edible mushroom.
Application: Suitable for all cooking methods - boiling, frying, stewing, pickling, pickling, drying and freezing. The leg of the autumn honey agaric is stiff, so it is not used for cooking. It is widely used in medicine to restore high blood pressure. In addition, the fungus has a calming effect on the body, helps with radiation and treatment of cancer.
Spread: grows throughout Russia, with the exception of the Far North. Settles on deadwood, as well as stumps of coniferous and deciduous species. The fruiting is plentiful, because the mushroom grows in large families. Most often it can be found on birch, alder and oak, sometimes it affects shrubs. The collection season begins in August and ends in September-October, depending on the weather.
We offer to see a few more photos of edible autumn mushrooms:
Edible thick-legged mushrooms
Among the edible autumn mushrooms, thicket-footed honey agaric is also common - one of the most popular mushrooms, which is successfully harvested not only in the forest, but also grown on an industrial scale.
Honey flyfish
Latin name: Armillaria lutea.
Family: Physalacrya.
Synonyms: Armillaria Bulbosa, Inflata.
Hat: diameter from 2.5 to 10 cm. At a young age, the mushroom has a wide-conical hat with turned edges, then it becomes denser and the edges fall, and a tubercle appears in the center. At first it has a dark brown color, turns yellow with age. On the surface there are numerous hairy yellowish-green or gray scales that persist even in adults.
Leg: cylindrical with a club-shaped thickening to the base, covered with scales of gray-yellow color. The surface of the leg itself is brown below and yellow (sometimes white) at the top. The "skirt" is membranous, white, which then breaks.
Edible autumn mushrooms mushrooms are shown in the photo:
Pulp: dense, white, with a pleasant, sometimes cheesy smell.
Records: frequent, slightly descending, yellowish, brown with age.
Edibility: edible mushroom.
Similarities and differences: Autumn Thistopia honey agaris can be confused with a fleecy flake, which is characterized by a high content of flakes on the surface of the cap. In addition, sometimes inexperienced mushroom pickers can confuse the edible mushroom with the poisonous false-foam sulfur-yellow, as well as the conditionally-edible false-foamed brick-red. However, the species mentioned does not have a skirt ring on the stem, which is characteristic of all edible fruiting bodies.
Spread: It is a saprophyte and grows on the lush grass, rotting stumps and tree trunks. Also prefers burnt wood and deadwoods of deciduous trees. It grows in one instance, less often in small groups. In addition, this species of honey agarics can grow on a bed of spruce needles.
We also offer to watch a video about autumn mushrooms:
How and in what forests are autumn mushrooms growing?
The time of autumn mushrooms depends on the climatic conditions of a particular territory, as well as on established weather, which includes air temperature and humidity. Favorable weather conditions for the abundant fruiting of mushrooms are considered to be the established average daily air temperature not lower than + 10 °. The mere mention of the type of fruiting bodies suggests an idea when exactly the autumn mushrooms appear. So, the growth of mushrooms begins in late August and ends in mid-October. In some individual regions, autumn mushrooms continue to bear fruit until the end of November, if warm weather persists. The peak of harvesting fruit bodies occurs mainly in September. Another plentiful wave of fruiting starts with the onset of the so-called “Indian summer”. In addition, the honey fly of autumn species actively grows during torrential rains and loves the September fogs. As you know, autumn honey agarics grow very quickly, just a few days after a heavy heavy rain is enough, and you can go for another mushroom harvest.
Almost all types of autumn mushrooms grow in large groups on stumps, fallen trees, forest felling, etc. In this regard, they are very convenient to collect in the forest. For the most part, autumn mushrooms are parasites, settling on living trees and destroying them. However, there are saprophytes who have chosen to die dead rotten wood. Sometimes they can be found under the bark of the affected plant.
In what forests do autumn mushrooms grow in Russia? Many experienced mushroom pickers note that these fruiting bodies prefer moist deciduous forests. In addition, their abundant fruiting is observed in forest felling. Most often, autumn mushrooms grow in mixed deciduous forests, preferring birch, alder, oak, aspen and poplar. Since the territory of Russia has a huge area with forests, you can meet honey mushrooms in any of them.
Where else are autumn mushrooms growing?
And where else are autumn mushrooms growing, on which trees? Often, these fruiting bodies can be found on conifers.However, it should be remembered that the color of the caps and even the taste of the mushroom may vary depending on the wood. So, growing on a pine or spruce, honey agaris acquires a darker color and becomes slightly bitter in taste.
Interesting fact: at night, you can see a faint glow of the stump, on which honey agarics grow. Often such a feature can be observed before a thunderstorm. It is not the fruiting bodies themselves that emit the glow, but the mycelium. Those who found themselves at night next to such a phenomenon agree that this is an incredibly beautiful sight!
