Mushrooms play an extremely important role in nature. By decomposing plant debris, they are actively involved in the eternal cycle of matter.

The decomposition of complex organic substances, primarily fiber and lignin, is one of the most important problems of biology and soil science. It is these substances that are the main constituent parts plant litter and wood. Actually, the cycle of carbon compounds in nature depends on their decomposition. It is estimated that on the globe annually from 50 to 100 billion tons of organic matter are synthesized, and the bulk of it are compounds of plant origin. Annually, in the taiga zone, litter is from 2 to 7 tons per 1 ha, in deciduous forests - from 5 to 13, and in meadows - from 5 to 9.5 tons.

The main work on the decomposition of dead plants is performed by fungi, active cellulose breakers. This feature of them is associated primarily with an unusual way of eating. Fungi belong to the so-called heterotrophic organisms, i.e., those that are not capable of forming organic matter from inorganic ones themselves. Therefore, they are forced to eat ready-made organic substances that are produced by other organisms. This is the fundamental difference between fungi and green plants - autotrophs, which themselves form organic matter, using the energy of sunlight.

Saprotroph mushrooms are very diverse and widespread. Among them there are large forms - macromycetes, and visible only through a microscope - micromycetes. The main habitat of saprotrophic fungi is the soil in which there is a huge, difficult to record number of spores and mycelium. Equally numerous are saprotrophic fungi that inhabit the forest litter and meadow turf.

Often we find autumn honey agaric and on the soil, however, not far from stumps, living or dead trees. The fact is that this mushroom forms rather thick black-brown strands, consisting of closely interwoven strings of the mycelium. Such cords (they are called "rhizomorphs") can spread through the soil from one tree to another, to its roots. Thus, autumn mushrooms can infect trees or shrubs in a significant area of \u200b\u200ba forest or grove. And on the rhizomorphs located in the soil, the fruiting bodies of this fungus also form. So it seems that it grows on the soil, but rhizomorphs always remain connected with the roots or trunk of a tree. When growing an autumn honey agaric, its spores and mycelium particles accumulate, and when they reach a certain critical amount, they can cause infection of trees, despite all the precautions.

Finally, here we will find the answer to the question why it is almost impossible to cultivate the best forest mushrooms in artificial conditions - porcini, boletus, saffron mushroom, butterdish, etc. The fact is that the mycelium of many cap mushrooms comes into direct contact with the roots of plants, especially woody, forming a complex complex - mycorrhiza (fungus root). Hence their name - “mycorrhizal fungi”.

Mycorrhiza as one of the types of symbiosis inherent in numerous groups of fungi - interesting phenomenon nature that has long been for scientists mystery. Symbiosis with mushrooms form the majority of woody and herbaceous plants. At the same time, the mycelium located in the soil comes into direct contact with the roots of higher plants. Fused with the roots, it creates the necessary conditions for the growth of green plants, while at the same time providing ready-made nutrition not only for herself, but also for the future fruiting body.

The mushroom picker braids the root of a tree or shrub from the outside, forming a rather dense cover on it, and partially penetrates inside. Free branches of the mycelium, hyphae, which, widely dispersing in the soil, replace root hairs, depart from the cover. Hyphae take water, mineral salts, and also soluble organic substances, mainly nitrogenous, from the soil. Some of these substances enter the root, and some are used by the fungus itself to build mycelium and fruiting bodies. The mushroom receives carbohydrate nutrition from the root, because, being a heterotroph, it cannot synthesize organic matter from inorganic ones.

For a long time, even mycologists did not understand why the mycelium of many cap forest mushrooms remains barren without close proximity to trees. And only in the 70s. XIX century it was found that mushrooms do not just grow in the neighborhood of their chosen trees, but that this neighborhood is important to them. There is a Russian proverb "There is no forest, and the mushroom will not be born." This peculiar commonwealth of mushrooms and trees, long noticed by the people, often reflected in their names (boletus, boletus, sapwood, alder, etc.), found scientific confirmation in the discovery of the phenomenon of mycorrhiza.

The soil in the forest, especially in the root zone of trees, is literally penetrated by the mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi. Boletus, boletus, saffron, saffron, thistle, breast and many other cap mushrooms are found only in the forest. Such a symbiosis is simply necessary for them: if their mycelium can still develop without the participation of the roots of the tree, then the fruiting body usually does not form.

The misunderstanding of the importance of mycorrhiza has led to numerous unsuccessful attempts to cultivate edible forest mushrooms, in the first place, in the first place. About him, as the most valuable of edible mushrooms, should be described in more detail. White fungus forms mycorrhiza with almost 50 tree species. In our forests, it is most often found in symbiosis with birch, oak, spruce, pine, hornbeam and beech, and the nature of the tree species with which it forms mycorrhiza affects not only its shape, but also the color of the hat and legs. There are about 18 forms of cep. The color of the hats varies from the familiar dark bronze to almost black in the southern oak-hornbeam and beech forests. The porcini mushroom, or boletus, is strong, has a dense leg, its flesh does not darken when broken and by any processing method; it is fragrant and is a valuable food product. It is not for nothing that people say: "Boletus edulis mushroom to all colonel mushrooms."

Pereberezik comes into symbiosis with some species of birch trees, including dwarf birch growing in the tundra. They find birch bark trees, which in size are significantly superior to dwarf birch trees.

Some fungi form mycorrhiza with only one particular tree species. Larch oiler, for example, enters into symbiosis only with larch (hence its name).

For trees, symbiosis with mushrooms is also of great importance. The experience of planting forest strips showed that without mycorrhiza, trees develop poorly, are weakened, prone to various diseases.

Most mycorrhizal fungi in the class of basidiomycetes. A small number of mycorrhiza forming agents are also present in the class of marsupials. These are mainly mushrooms with underground fruit bodies, for example black, or real, truffle growing together with oak, beech or hornbeam on calcareous crushed stone soil in the forests of France and Italy. White truffle, occasionally found in our deciduous forests, forms a symbiosis with birch, poplar, linden and other trees. In the north and middle strip of the European part of Russia, cultivation of black truffle is impossible due to climatic and soil conditions.

With all this said, we further recommend still trying to grow mycorrhizal fungi on summer cottage. Of course, success depends on many, often still unknown factors, and success cannot be guaranteed here. But getting at least a small amount of ceps on your site or in a nearby grove is always tempting. Moreover, the crop can be expected in the second, third and even in the fifth and sixth years after planting mycelium or sowing spores.

All of the listed groups of mushrooms are distinguished by eating habits and, accordingly, habitats, that is, “home”. This word corresponds to the Latin "ecoe". Hence the name of these groups is “ecological”, which is most often found in the popular science literature about mushrooms.

Honey agaric (plural - honey mushrooms) - the popular name of the group of fungi belonging to different genera and families.

The mushrooms "Honey agarics" got their name because of their particular growth - stumps (hemp), both living and dead. But there are also several types of honey mushrooms that grow in the meadows.

Description of the mushroom

Honey mushrooms have a hat, which in their youths is hemispherical in shape, which later becomes umbrella-shaped - on top of a tubercle, then flat, often rounded on the sides, with a diameter of 2-10 cm. In edible mushrooms, the hat is covered with small scales, which almost disappear by aging of the fungus. Sometimes the hat is covered with a layer of mucus. The color of the hat is from cream and light yellow to reddish shades, with a darker center. The leg of honey mushrooms grows in length from 2 to 18 cm, in width up to 2.5 cm. Other features of honey mushrooms read below in the descriptions for each species.

Where to collect honey mushrooms? The growing area of \u200b\u200bmost honey mushrooms is weakened or damaged trees, as well as decayed or dead wood, mainly deciduous trees (beech, oak, birch, alder, aspen, elm, willow, acacia, poplar, ash, mulberry, etc.), less often coniferous (spruce, pine, fir).

Some species, for example, meadow honey agaric, grow on soil, found mainly on open grassy spaces - fields, gardens, roadsides, forest glades, etc.

Honey mushrooms are widespread in the forests of the Northern Hemisphere (from the subtropics to the North) and are absent only in permafrost regions. Of course, the increased humidity in the forests has a beneficial effect on the number of mushrooms, although they can be found in moist ravines.

Honey mushrooms grow in large families (tubers), although lonely honey mushrooms are occasionally found. The foci of growth themselves can be connected by long (up to several meters) cord-like mycelia, which can be seen under the bark of the affected plant.

When do honey mushrooms grow?

The time for collecting mushrooms depends on the type of honey agaric climatic conditions. So, for example, autumn honey agaric grows from August to winter, summer honey agaric grows from April to November, but to summarize, the most productive time for gathering honey mushrooms is autumn, especially September, October.

What to do with honey mushrooms?

Honey mushrooms can be prepared in the following ways:

- peel off;
- to cook;
- fry;
- pickle;
- pickle;
- make caviar;
- dry.

The most delicious are fried and pickled mushrooms.

Types of honey mushrooms

Real mushrooms. Edible mushrooms

Autumn honey agaric (Armillaria mellea). Synonyms: Honey worm.

Harvest Season: end of August - beginning of winter. The peak is September, with an average daily temperature of + 10 ° C.

Description: The hat is 3-17 cm in diameter, initially convex, then unfolds flat, often with wavy edges. The peel, depending on the growing conditions, is painted in various shades - from honey-brown to greenish-olive, in the center is darker. The surface is covered with rare light scales, which may disappear with age. The flesh of young hats is dense, whitish, and becomes thin with age. The pulp of the legs is fibrous, in mature mushrooms of a rough consistency. The smell and taste are pleasant. The plates are relatively rare, adhering to the peduncle or slightly down-running. Young whitish or flesh-colored, darkens upon maturation, to pink-brown, can become covered with brown spots. Legs are 8-10 cm long, 1-2 cm in diameter, solid, with a light yellow-brown surface, darker in the lower part, to brown-brown. At the base may be slightly expanded, but not swollen. The surface of the legs, like hats, is covered with flakey scales. Fruit bodies often grow together with the bases of the legs. He covered the rest: a ring in the upper part of the leg, usually right under the hat, clearly visible, membranous, narrow, whitish with a yellow edge. Volvo is missing. Spore powder is white.

Chaffinch (Armillaria lutea) . Synonyms: Armillaria bulbosa, Armillaria gallica, Armillaria inflata, Armillaria mellea, Armillariella bulbosa.

Harvest Season: August - November.

Description: A hat with a diameter of 2.5-10 cm, at the beginning wide-conical, with the edge turned up, then it becomes flattened with the edge down. At a young age, the hat is painted in dark brown, pale brown or pinkish shades, whitish along the edge, then yellowish-brown or brown. The scales in the center of the hat are numerous, almost conical, fibrous, grayish-brown, closer to the edge - single, raised or lying, whitish or of the same color as the hat. In the center, the scales are usually preserved in adult mushrooms. The plates are quite frequent, descending to the stem, whitish in young mushrooms, then acquiring a brownish tint. The leg is usually cylindrical, with a club-like or bulbous thickening at the base, whitish above the ring, brownish or brown below, often grayish at the base, below the ring with scattered yellowish remains of the bedspread. The ring is fibrous or filmy, white, often with brownish scales along the edge, bursting star-shaped. The pulp is whitish, with a faint or unpleasant cheese smell and astringent taste. Spore powder is white.

Summer honey agaric (Kuehneromyces mutabilis) . Synonyms: Govorushka, Variable Kuneromitses, Lime honey, Agaricus mutabilis, Pholiota mutabilis, Dryophila mutabilis, Galerina mutabilis.

Spread: Summer honey agaric grows in dense colonies on rotten wood or on damaged living trees, preferably hardwood, occasionally pine, in deciduous and mixed forests of a northern temperate climate.

Harvest Season: April – November, and in a mild climate - almost all year round.

Description: A hat with a diameter of 3-6 cm, at first convex, as the fungus ages, it becomes flat, with a pronounced wide tubercle. Translucent, brownish in rainy weather, matte, honey-yellow in dry; often lighter in the middle and darker at the edges. The edges of the hat with noticeable grooves, in wet weather around the tubercle there are concentric zones and darker fields. The skin is smooth, mucous. The flesh is thin, watery, pale yellow-brown in color, darker in the leg, with a mild taste and a pleasant smell of fresh wood. The plates are 0.4-0.6 cm wide, grown or slightly descending, relatively frequent, first light brown, then brown-brown. The leg is up to 7 cm high, 0.4-1 cm in diameter, dense, lighter in the upper part than the hat, smooth, small dark scales appear below the ring. He covered the rests: the ring is membranous, narrow, at the beginning it is clearly visible, with age it can disappear, it is often painted with fallen spores in a buffy-brown color; Volvo and the rest of the bedspread on the hat are missing. Spore powder ocher brown.

Winter honey agaric (Flammulina velutipes) . Synonyms: Velvet-legged flammulina, Velvet-legged collibia, Winter mushroom, Agaricus velutipes, Gymnopus velutipes, Collybia velutipes, Pleurotus velutipes, Collybidium velutipes, Myxocollybia velutipes.

Harvest Season: Autumn - spring. Fruits best during winter thaws, but often it can be found under the snow. Winter mushroom is popular as an object of cultivation. In stores it can be found under the names: "Enokitake" (Enokitake), "Inoki".

Description: The fruiting body is bonnet, central or slightly eccentric. The hat is flat (convex in young mushrooms), 2-10 cm in diameter, painted yellow, honey-brown or orange-brown. The edges of the cap are usually lighter than the middle. The pulp is thin, from white to light yellow in color, with a pleasant taste. Leg 2-7 cm long, 0.3-1 cm wide, tubular, dense, characteristic velvety-brown color, yellowish brown above. The plates are grown, rare, there are shortened plates. The color of the plates is from white to ocher. The remains of the bedspread are missing. Spore powder is white.

Spring Chaff (Collybia forest-loving, Collybia dryophila) . Synonyms: Agaricus dryophilus, Collybia aquosa var. dryophila, Collybia dryophila, Marasmius dryophilus, Omphalia dryophila.

Spread: Spring honey agaric grows mainly in tubers.
It occurs in groups, from June to November, in small groups, on decaying wood or deciduous litter in mixed forests with oak and pine.

Harvest Season: May - October. Peak - June, July.

Description: The hat is 1-7 cm in diameter, hygrophanic, convex at a young age, then broadly convex and flat in shape, painted in red-brown, then fades to orange-brown or yellow-brown. In old mushrooms with a tucked-up edge. The pulp is white or yellowish in color, without any particular taste or smell. The plateau hymenophore, the plates adhered to the peduncle or almost free, often located, are white, sometimes with a pinkish or yellowish tinge. Sometimes the ‘luteifolius’ form with yellow plates stands out. The leg is flexible, 3–9 cm long, 0.2–0.8 cm thick, relatively flat, sometimes expanding to a bulbous-thickened base. Spore powder, cream or white.

Honey agaric yellow-red, or yellowish-red rowan (Tricholomopsis rutilans) . Synonyms: Rowing red, False yellow-red, Honey agaric yellow, honey agaric red, Honey agaric, Agaricus rutilans, Gymnopus rutilans, Tricholoma rutilans, Cortinellus rutilans.

Family: Ordinary, or tricholomic (Tricholomataceae). Genus: Tricholomopsis (Tricholomopsis).

Spread: Grows in groups, mainly on dead pine wood, in coniferous forests.

Harvest Season: July - the end of October. Peak: August — September.

Description: The hat is convex, grows to flat, 5-15 cm in diameter, is colored in orange-yellow tones, velvety, dry, covered with small fibrous scales of purple or reddish-brown. The pulp is bright yellow, in the hat is dense, thick, in the leg is fibrous, with a soft or bitter taste, with the smell of rotten wood, or sour. The lamellae are narrowly grown, sinuous, painted in yellowish or bright yellow colors. The leg is solid, then hollow, with a thickening at the base, often curved, 4-10 cm long, 1-2.5 cm thick. The surface of the leg is the same color as the hat, with purple or lighter scales than the hat. Spore powder is white.

Mucous membrane, or mucosal udemansiella (Oudemansiella mucida) . Synonyms: Agaricus mucidus, Armillaria mucida, Collybia mucida, Lepiota mucida, Mucidula mucida.

Family: Physalacriaceae (Physalacriaceae). Genus: Oudemansiella (Oudemansiella).

Spread: It grows mainly in groups, on the thick branches of living deciduous trees, more often - beech, maple, hornbeam, almost all over the world.

Harvest Season: May - September.

Description: The cap is convex in shape, in young mushrooms it is hemispherical, mucous, painted white, light gray or cream brown, in the middle slightly brownish, 2-10 cm in diameter. Lamellae are also white, widely grown, dense, with distinct intervals . The leg is thin, fragile, smooth, dry above the ring, mucous under the ring, 4-8 cm high, 0.4-0.7 cm wide. The surface of the leg in the lower part is covered with small black-brown flakes. The base of the leg is thickened. The pulp is dense, yellowish-whitish. Spore powder is white or light cream.

Meadowworm (Marasmius oreades) . Synonyms: Meadowbird, Meadow marasmius, Meadow meadow, Clove fungus, Agaricus oreades, Agaricus caryophyllaeus, Collybia oreades, Scorteus oreades.

Family: Non-mandrel (Marasmiaceae). Genus: Negniuchnik (Marasmius).

Beneficial features: Chamomile meadow contains marasmus acid, which is used against Staphylococcus aureus and other pathogenic bacteria.

Spread: Unlike most other honey mushrooms, these honey mushrooms grow mainly in open areas, on the soil - meadows, gardens, forest glades, roadsides, ravines, etc. Fruits in groups, forming arcs, rows or “witch circles”. Distributed all over the world. Able to tolerate strong drying, but as soon as it receives moisture from rain, it immediately comes to life.

Harvest Season: May - October.

Description: The hat is smooth, 2-8 cm in diameter, hemispherical at a young age, later convex, almost flat in old mushrooms with a dull tubercle in the middle. The edges of the cap are translucent, slightly ribbed, often uneven. The hat is sticky in wet weather, painted yellowish-brown or reddish-ocher, sometimes with slightly noticeable zoning. In dry weather, it acquires a lighter, pale cream color. The center of the hat is always darker than its edges. Lamellae 3–6 mm wide, rare, grown in young mushrooms, later loose, with clearly visible intermediate lamellae. In wet weather, the plates are ocher, in dry - creamy whitish. The leg is thin, but dense, sometimes tortuous, 2-10 cm long and 0.2-0.5 cm in diameter, thickened at the base, painted a pale ocher color. The pulp is thin, whitish or pale yellow, when cut does not change color, with a light sweetish aftertaste and a strong peculiar smell reminiscent of the smell of cloves or bitter almonds. Spore powder is white or cream.

Honey mushrooms garlic, or garlic

Common Garlic (Marasmius scorodonius) . Synonyms: Agaricus scorodonius, Chamaeceras scorodonius, Gymnopus scorodonius, Marasmius rubi, Marasmius scorodonius.

Family:

Spread: It grows in large groups, mainly on branches and decaying bark of conifers, in coniferous and mixed forests of the Northern Hemisphere. It also often grows on grassy coverings, in dry places on forest litter, preferring sandy and clay soils.

Harvest Season: July — October.

Description: The cap of young mushrooms is convex-conical or hemispherical, with the edge turned up, then opens and becomes almost flat, with wavy edges, with a diameter of 0.5-2.5 cm. The surface of the cap is bare and smooth, less often obscurely furrowed, depending on the weather is variously colored: in wet weather, pinkish-brown is ocher-red, when dried, cream or ocher. The pulp is very thin, the same color as the surface, with a strong smell and taste of garlic. Gimenophore records are rare, including 13–20, with lamellae, rarely interwoven or branching, almost free of legs, painted in white - yellowish hues. The leg is shiny, bare, stiff, 0.5-5 cm long, 1-2 mm thick, in the upper part orangeish below - red-brown to black. The spore imprint is white.

Large Garlic (Marasmius alliaceus) . Synonyms: Agaricus alliaceus, Agaricus dolinensis, Chamaeceras alliaceus, Marasmius alliaceus, Marasmius alliaceus, Marasmius schoenopus, Mycena alliacea.

Family: Non-mandrel (Marasmiaceae). Genus: Garlic (Mycetinis).

Spread: It grows in large groups, mainly on fallen leaves, near stumps and decaying branches of beech, in deciduous forests of Europe.

Harvest Season: June — October.

Description: The cap is 1-6.5 cm in diameter, bell-shaped or half-spread, with a wide protruding tubercle, striped, whitish at the edges, and browning towards old age. The pulp is white, with a garlic-onion smell and mushroom taste. The plates are whitish, rare, first adhered to the stem, then loose. The leg is dense, thickened, cartilaginous to the base, sometimes root-elongated, brownish brown, up to 10 cm in length and 0.2-0.3 cm in diameter. Spore powder is white.

Sometimes called “honey agarics" can be sold.

False mushrooms, false foil. Inedible mushrooms, poison mushrooms

False Wrap, False Foam - the name of several species of poisonous or inedible mushrooms that look similar to edible mushrooms.

As a rule, mushrooms are poisonous mushrooms:
- the genus hypholoma (Hypholoma) of the Strophariaceae family (Strophariaceae);
- some representatives of the genus psatirella (Psathyrella) of the dung family (Coprinaceae) (according to another systematics - psatirella (Psathyrellaceae)).

Sometimes certain types of false mushrooms are classified as conditionally edible mushrooms of low quality, for the preparation of which it is necessary to have special skills, but even in this case, the safety of their use in food is not always proved.

Poisonous mushrooms

Foamy Sulfur Yellow (Hypholoma fasciculare) . Synonyms: Agaricus fascicularis, Dryophila fascicularis, Geophila fascicularis, Naematoloma fasciculare, Pratella fascicularis, Psilocybe fascicularis.

Family:

Spread: Sulfur yellow false-shoot grows in large groups or bunches, mainly on old stumps or half-rotten trunks of deciduous or coniferous trees covered with moss, as well as at the base of living and dried trees. Often populates trunks lying on the ground and broken trees ...

Harvest Season:

Description: A hat with a diameter of 2-7 cm, first bell-shaped, then extended, yellowish, yellow-brown, sulfur-yellow, lighter on the edge, darker in the center or reddish-brown. The flesh is light yellow or whitish, very bitter, with an unpleasant odor. The plates are frequent, thin, adhering to the stem, first sulfur-yellow, then greenish, black-olive. Leg flat, fibrous, hollow, up to 10 cm long, 0.3-0.5 cm thick, light yellow. Spore powder chocolate brown.

Brick Red False Foam (Hypholoma sublateritium) . Synonyms: Agaricus carneolus, Agaricus pomposus, Agaricus sublateritius, Dryophila sublateritia, Geophila sublateritia, Hypholoma lateritium, Naematoloma sublateritium, Pratella lateritia, Psilocybe lateritia.

Family: Strophariaceae (Strophariaceae). Genus: Hypholoma.

Spread: Grows in groups, bunches or colony on decaying wood, stumps or near them of deciduous species (oak, birch, etc.) in deciduous and mixed forests.

Harvest Season: July - November. Peak: August — September.

Description: The hat is round-convex, then half-spread, 4-10 cm in diameter, orange, brick red, yellow around the edges with hanging flakes from a cobweb-fibrous bedspread, brick red in the middle, with a darker center, sometimes with red-brown spots. The pulp is dense, relatively thick, yellowish, bitter. The plates are grown, yellowish. Leg 4-10 cm long, 0.6-1.5 cm thick, narrowed to the base, yellowish, brown below, without a ring, sometimes with the remains of a private bedspread. Spores are purplish brown.

Candolle's False Foam, or Psathyrella candolleana . Synonyms: Candoll Crunchy, Agaricus candolleanus, Agaricus violaceolamellatus, Drosophila candolleana, Hypholoma candolleanum, Psathyra candolleanus.

Family:

Spread: It grows in large groups and colonies, sometimes singly, in hardwood, on the soil near stumps, in Eurasia and North America.

Harvest Season: May - October.

Description: The cap is hemispherical, then bell-shaped or wide-conical; it opens to flat, with a rounded tubercle, 3-8 cm in diameter. The edge of the cap is wavy-sinuous, often cracked. The skin is almost smooth, covered with small, rapidly disappearing scales, brownish or yellow-brown. The hat dries quickly and becomes yellowish or creamy white, dull, especially at the edges. Dried hats are very brittle. The pulp is thin, white, brittle, without any particular taste or smell, or with a mushroom smell. The plates are grown, frequent, narrow, when ripe, change color from whitish to gray-purple and then dark brown, porphyry, with a lighter edge. Leg 3-9 cm high and 0.2-0.6 cm thick, with a thickened base. The surface of the legs is white or cream, smooth, silky, fluffy at the top. The remains of the veil are noticeable in young fruiting bodies along the edges of the cap, filamentous or in the form of fibrous hanging flakes, films, white. Spore powder is brown-purple.

Watery False Foam or Psirella Hydrophilous (Psathyrella piluliformis) . Synonyms: Psatirella hydrophilic, hydrophilic brittle, Spherical psatirella, Agaricus hydrophilus, Agaricus piluliformis, Drosophila piluliformis, Hypholoma piluliforme, Psathyrella hydrophila.

Family: Psatyrell (Psathyrellaceae). Genus: Psathyrella.

Spread: It grows in splices or large colonies on stumps or wood remains of deciduous trees, rarely conifers. Sometimes it grows around stumps. Distributed in Eurasia and North America.

Harvest Season: September — November.

Description: The hat is bell-shaped, convex or almost flat with furrowed, often cracking edges and a rounded wide tubercle, 2-5 cm in diameter. The skin is smooth, dry, dark brown, when lightened, it brightens, becomes yellow-brown, starting from the center of the hat. The flesh is thin, brown, watery, soft or bitter, odorless. The plates are grown, frequent, light brown, then darken, to brown-black with a light edge. In wet weather, the plates release droplets of liquid. The leg is hollow, sometimes curved, relatively dense, 4-8 cm high, 0.5-0.8 cm thick. The surface of the leg is smooth, silky, light brown below, the upper part is covered with a white powdery coating. The remains of the bedspread are white, flaky, visible at the edges of the cap. Spore powder is violet brown.
The main symptoms of poisoning with poisonous mushrooms: after eating mushrooms, after 1-6 hours, nausea, vomiting, sweating, and loss of consciousness appear. At the first signs of poisoning, immediately contact the nearest medical facility.

Edible false feathers

Foam seroplate (Hypholoma capnoides) . Synonyms: Pineapple, Agaricus capnoides, Dryophila capnoides, Geophila capnoides, Naematoloma capnoides, Psilocybe capnoides.

Family: Strophariaceae (Strophariaceae). Genus: Hypholoma.

Spread: It grows in large groups and colonies, occasionally singly, on stumps, decaying pines and spruces, roots in coniferous forests.

Harvest Season: August — October. Peak: September — October

Description: The hat is 2–8 cm in diameter, convex, then open, sticky in wet weather. The color of the hat is pale yellow or dirty yellow with a brighter edge and with a yellow or ocher middle. As it ripens, the color changes to ocher-brownish, rust-brown, sometimes with brown-rust spots. The pulp is white or pale yellow, with a pleasant smell. Plates in young mushrooms are whitish or yellowish, then bluish-gray, darken with age. The leg is hollow, without a ring, sometimes with the remains of a private bedspread, yellowish, rusty brown below, 3-10 cm long, 0.4-0.8 cm in diameter. Spores are bluish-gray.

How to distinguish a false honey agar from the present?

How to distinguish real mushrooms from false ones? Main difference - a ring on the leg, which is present in edible mushrooms. Poison mushrooms do not have a ring.

LATIN TITLE:Armillaria mellea (Vahl.) P. Kumm

RUSSIAN NAME:

CHINESE NAME:Hmihuanjun, past, lijun, gensoujun

TAXONOMIC POSITION:

1. Grade:Basidiomycetes
2. Order:Agaricales
3. Family:Tricholomataceae

MEDICINAL RAW MATERIALS: Fruit body; fermented mycelium and its extract

Morphological features

The cap is 40-100 (120) mm in diameter, in young fruiting bodies it is blunt or hemispherical, with tucked edges and remains of the bedspread along the edge, with age it becomes flat-vaulted to flat with a concave middle. The surface of the hat is dull, dry, from olive-yellow to olive-brown in young fruiting bodies; with age, the color fades to the edges, becoming honey-yellow, the edges usually become whitish, the center is dark brown to black-brown. In young fruiting bodies, the surface of the cap is covered with rare yellowish scales, which disappear with age. The edges of the cap are even in young fruiting bodies; they become striped striated with age.

The pulp is whitish with a pinkish tint, thin, the smell is slightly musty, the taste is pleasant, irritating the throat after prolonged chewing. Lamellae are whitish, with reddish-brown spotting, wide, widely grown or down-running, the edges of the lamellae are wavy to comb-like. Leg 40-100 mm long, 5-15 mm in diameter, cylindrical, often curved, base slightly thinner, with a membrane, stable, whitish ring under the cap. Ring with a clear yellow marginal rim on the inside, radially fibrous with rare scales. The surface of the legs is whitish-pinkish in the upper part, to the base the color changes to brownish with a yellow tinge, covered with longitudinal grooves or fibers. Dense in young fruiting bodies, in mature it becomes hollow, elastic, strong. Fruit bodies usually grow together with the bases of the legs. Spore powder is whitish. Spores are widely ellipsoidal, smooth, hyaline, with drops of fat, 7.1-8.7x5.4-6.4 microns. Narrow-clavate basidia, 30-40x6-9 microns, 4-spore, without basal buckles.

Ecology and distribution

It grows on stumps and trunks of coniferous and deciduous trees, alone or in a group, often causes rot of wood. It is mainly found in China in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong, Gansu, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Mongolia, and Tibet and Taiwan. Distributed in Asia, Europe and America.

Chemical composition

Using instrumental analysis methods, the autumn mixture obtained from the honey agar was studied and their individual components were determined, in particular, ficin, mannose, azelaic acid, orsellic acid, hydroxymethyl furfural, 3-methyl-5-methoxyphenol, orsinol-monomethyl ether, 3-methyl- 4-chloro-5-methoxyphenol, orsinol, Daidzein (estrogen isoflavone), stearic acid, palmitic acid, linoleic acid, glyceric a-monooleate. In addition to the above components, purine derivatives were isolated: guanosine, adenosine, N6-dimethyladenosine, N6-methyladenosine, 2 "-methyladenosine,,, purine and another 17 aromatic sesquiterpenic compounds.

Intracellular polyose was isolated from the autumn rhizomorph, the analysis of which showed that it contains uronic acid, D-glucose, D-galactose, D-mannose, D-xylose. Tanzhou and co-workers (2002) isolated neutral and somewhat acidic polyoses from the fungal culture fluid. They found that one of the neutral polyoses is glucan, contains β-glycosides. Data from other authors showed that polyosis from mycelium and culture fluid of the fungus is glucan, which consists of glucose monomers; the polyosis of the rhizomorph and fruit body consists of glucose and xylose, their molar ratio in the polyosis of the rhizomorph is 1:14, in the polyosis of the fruit body - 1:10. The molecular weight of the polyose is the autumn sheath of 10,000 - 70,000 Da. At different stages of fungal growth, the polyose content may vary. So, the polyose content in mycelium is 9%, in the culture fluid 0.87 g / 100 ml; in rhizomorph - 1.12%; in the fruit body - 2.27%. Zhangjia et al. (2002) isolated three new fractions from the fruit body of the fungus. Two fractions are mixtures of sterol, one is ceramide C-18. In addition, water-soluble glucan and peptidoglucan were isolated from fruit bodies.

Medicinal value

1. Traditional application

Eating autumn honey agaric is good for the eyes, lungs, intestines and stomach.

2. Soothing action

Aqueous and alcoholic extracts, the condensate of the culture fluid of the autumn honey rape can enhance the effect of hypnosis, increase the duration of sleep of mice, and with an increase in dosage, limit the overall mobility of animals.

3. Action against eclampsia

Eclampsia was experimentally induced in mice using the analeptic agent pentylenetetrazole. After intraperitoneal administration at different doses of the preparation obtained from autumn honey agar, pentylenetetrazole (20 g / kg) was injected into the caudal vein. The results showed that the preparation from autumn honey agar is an antagonist of pentylenetetrazole.

4. Antianoxic effect

After subcutaneous injection of the aqueous extract, the mice were placed with autumn honey worm in a 500 ml container containing 10 g of calcium chloride, and the inlet was capped with petroleum jelly. The results showed that the survival time of the animals was much longer than in the control group. This indicates that the fungus extract had an antianoxic effect on the body of mice and can be used in conditions where body tissues lack oxygen.

5. Strengthening immunity

The results of the experiments show that autumn polyose honeyworm increases the number of antibodies in the body, and also strengthens the humoral immunity of healthy mice. Exosomatic experiments have shown that autumn polyose honeyworm has a stimulating effect on the function of T-lymphocytes, but does not affect the anaphylactic reaction caused by nitrosochlorobenzene in mice.

Bibliography

1. Lijianzhong et al. Essay on the Macromycetes of Hunan Province. Xynan: Henan Pedagogical University, 1993.
2. Maosiaolan. Macromycetes of China. Hunan: Science and Technology, 2000.
3. Xujintang. Medicinal mushroom science of China. Beijing: Publishing House "Union" of Peking Medical University and "Sehe" Medical University of China, 1997.
4. Tanzhoujin, Seydapin, Wangzheng et al. Isolation and purification of halimasch polyose and analysis of its properties // Food Science, 2002, (9): 49-52.
5. Zhangjia, Yanyanqi, Danhai et al. Chemical composition of halimasch // Bulletin of plants in northwestern China. 2002, 22 (4): 952-956.
6. Chenxiamei, Guoshunxing, Wangcuyin et al. Studies of the composition of polyose at different stages of halimasch growth // Journal of Chinese Medicine. 2001.26 (6): 381-384.
7. Sheneshou, Hongyi. Isolation and purification of halimasch polyose and its physicochemical characterization // Edible mushrooms of China. 1999, 18 (1): 38-40.
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11. Yang JS et al. Chemical constituents of ArmiUaria mellea myceliu. Isolation and structural elucidation of armillaricin // Ibid 1989, 55: 564.

Experienced mushroom pickers easily determine the place in the forest where they need to search for honey mushrooms. Usually it's felled from strong wind rotten trees or old stumps. Sometimes honey agarics, located in the grass, are mistakenly called meadow. There are really a lot of varieties of honey mushrooms, but all of them are united by one sign - they grow on completely rotten or still alive stumps. And the so-called meadow honey agarics chose this territory for one simple reason - under the layer of thick grass there are already decomposed wood remains.

Favorable environment for the growth of honey agarics

The participation of honey agarics in the biological destruction of wood

Honey mushrooms do not immediately appear on stumps. Researches by scientists have proved that the destruction of non-viable wood is a complex process, which is divided into many stages. First, imperfect mushrooms settle on a fallen tree, eating only the contents of the cells, without destroying their walls. Gradually, gray, yellow and brown spots appear on the wood. Such changes have almost no effect on the physical properties of the tree.

Imperfect mushrooms are replaced by basid ones. Their mycelium penetrates deeper, and in addition to the contents of the cells, it can feed on intermediate decay products. The mycelium of basid fungi is accompanied by satellite fungi (penicilli), which contribute to acidification of the environment. This is a favorable condition for the further development of basid and imperfect fungi capable of decomposing fiber (trichoderma, stachybotris, some species of marsupials). The mycelium of basal mushrooms is eliminated as the stocks of cellulose are exhausted. The medium turns from acidic to alkaline, and new types of mushrooms appear that break down fiber and protein even more vigorously.

At this stage, the tree loses its shape, becomes rotten, covered with moss and other plants - which means that the time has come for hat mushrooms. The honey agarics bring the matter to an end, mineralizing organic matter, forming a fertile layer of soil and replenishing their vital energy with dead wood.

The digestion of fungi is external - they secrete hydrolytic enzymes that break down complex organic substances, and absorb the hydrolysis products of the entire surface of the body.

Saprophyte fungi feed on dead organic matter. They play an important role in the cycle of substances in nature, mineralizing organic substances, freeing the soil from dead residues and at the same time replenishing in it the reserves of mineral salts, which serve as food for green plants.

This group includes many large mushrooms. Humus, straw, forest leaves, trunks, branches and stumps, manure, even feathers, horns and charcoal serve as a substrate from which nutrients are extracted. Most saprophytes prefer certain substrates. So, for example, the summer mushroom chooses, as a rule, the remnants of deciduous trees, and the gray-lamellar false-foil chooses exclusively conifers. Other species - for example, white dung beetle (shaggy dung) or yellow rhizopogon (yellow rhizome) - perfectly develop mainly in nitrogen-rich places. However, numerous microscopically tiny saprophytes are of greater importance - and this is often very unpleasant for humans. They settle on our food products and thereby make them inedible. Moldy jam, fermented fruit juice, rotten apple - this is the result of their activities.

Symbiotic mushroomsparticipate in the creation of two very important types of symbiotic union: lichens and mycorrhiza. Lichens are a symbiotic association of fungus and algae. Lichens, as a rule, settle on bare rocks, in gloomy forests, they also hang from trees. A characteristic feature of fungi is their ability to enter into symbiotic relationships with other organisms. In mushrooms, this symbiosis is called mycorrhiza (or "fungus root") is the association of the fungus with the root of the plant. Such an alliance is very beneficial to both partners. As a result, the fungus receives a large amount of organic substances and vitamins, and the plant component becomes able to more efficiently absorb nutrients from the soil (partly due to the increase in the absorption surface, and partly because the fungus hydrolyzes some of the compounds inaccessible to the plant). The number of plants capable of forming mycorrhiza is very large, for example, it does not occur in flowering plants only in the family of cruciferous and sedge. Depending on whether fungal hyphae penetrate into root cells or not, they distinguish between endo- and ectomycorrhiza.

Carbon compounds are used by micromicent fungi either as energy sources, or for the synthesis of the most important components of a cell. Sometimes at a certain stage of chemical transformations both of these processes coincide.

Mushrooms with sufficient biochemical activity convert approximately half of the sugar contained in the medium into the constituent parts of the cell. The conversion efficiency of most fungi cultured in laboratory media is much lower. This partly depends on the incorrect ratio of various nutrients in the medium and on the nature of carbon metabolism. Carbon not used for the synthesis of mycelium is converted into carbon dioxide and into intermediate metabolic products, such as alcohol or organic acids. The industry is trying to create such conditions of cultivation, in which the greatest possible amount of carbon goes to the formation of the desired intermediate product of metabolism and the least possible amount is spent on the synthesis of mycelium and the formation of carbon dioxide.