The hygrophoric fungus, belonging to the lamellar genus, grows in forests and meadows. It forms mycorrhiza with trees and various herbs. Some types of hygrophors are edible, others are conditionally edible, which before boiling should be boiled in a small amount of salt water, but no poisonous ones have been identified.
These mushrooms have many varieties, with some of them, the most common and popular among fans of quiet hunting, we will introduce you in our article.
Mushroom hygrophor: description
These discreet mushrooms have characteristic features, thanks to which they are quite simple to distinguish from other species. These include:
- mucous, convex, often with an elevation in the center, a hat painted in gray, olive, white, yellow and reddish tones;
- dense, cylindrical shape, solid leg, painted in the same color with a hat;
- rare, waxy type, thickened, descending plates of a pinkish or yellow hue;
- characteristic gray-white color of spore powder.
Gigrofor - a mushroom that is of interest to both beginners and experienced mushroom pickers. That is why we will provide you with a brief description of its most common varieties below.
Early
Edible agaric mushroom, the cap of which in diameter can vary from five to eleven centimeters. It is dry, smooth and firm. In a young mushroom, it is painted white with a light grayish tint, which later changes to lead or almost black.
The initially convex hat becomes almost flat. Extremely rarely depressed. The surface is slightly wavy and curved. Leg up to ten centimeters high, cylindrical. It is curved, painted gray or white. Under the hat, at the top, it is covered with small scales.
The pulp of an early hygrophoric mushroom is grayish or white, with a mild odor. This species can be collected in early spring, when other edible leaf mushrooms, however, as well as inedible ones, have not yet appeared. The active collection period begins in the temperate zone of Europe and North America in early March and lasts until mid-May in deciduous and coniferous forests with nutritious soils. Usually this mushroom is used for cooking soups and meat dishes.
Russula
This mushroom has a pale pink fleshy hat. Russula mushroom is widespread in the deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere. He has a hemispherical, convex hat, which can be either depressed or flattened, sometimes its edges are tucked. The surface of the cap is smooth, with slight scaly, often sticky-mucous, pale pink in color, with pink spots. The central part is darker: pinkish red or wine red.
Lilac-pink plates are often located, the flesh of the mushroom is quite dense, white in color, when pressed, it turns pink, has a weak aroma. Leg of the central arrangement, slightly tapering downwards. Russula hygrophors with fusiform or club-shaped legs and a white surface with pinkish-brown spots are found.
Late (brown)
This is an edible mushroom hygrophor, a description of which can often be found in special publications. A small hat (from three to seven centimeters) is painted in olive or brownish brown. It is slightly convex, with the edges curled inward. The mucous surface, the edges are much lighter than the central part.
It is thanks to the hat that the brown mushroom is so called. A yellowish or olive solid leg can be from four to twelve centimeters. In old mushrooms, it is often hollow. The young brown hygrophor mushroom has a ring that disappears with time.
Light orange or yellow plates are thick and sparse, grow weakly to the leg. The pulp does not have a pronounced smell, rather fragile. It is completely white in the hat and yellowish in the leg. Collect this variety from mid-September until the last days of November. It is interesting that this mushroom appears even after the first snow falls, so it also has a second name - late.
White
An edible mushroom having a hat with a diameter of four to eleven centimeters of a white, grayish-olive or grayish-brown color with a smooth surface having fibrous edges. The young white hygrophor has a hemispherical or bell-shaped cap shape, which gradually becomes more aligned. Sometimes it is covered with a mucous layer or has a slight pubescence and barely noticeable tubercles.
The leg is white, with a height of four to twelve centimeters, having scaly belts. Very rare records are painted olive white. The pulp is tender, very fragile, white. White hygrophore in Europe and North America is collected from mid-August to the first decade of October in pine and spruce forests. White hygrophor - a delicious mushroom with a sweet taste, for which he received another name - sweetened. Used for making pickles. It is recommended to use only young mushrooms in cooking.
Fragrant (fragrant)
Edible mushroom with a strong smell, which became the reason for its name. A cap of fragrant hygrophor of medium size (not more than ten centimeters in diameter). It is painted brownish or gray, and the edges, as a rule, are lighter than the center. The surface is smooth or slightly sticky. In young mushrooms, the hats are convex, but over time they become flat.
The gray leg is four to twelve centimeters high, noticeably lighter than the hat. It has a cylindrical shape. There are specimens with flattened legs covered with scales along the entire length. The flesh of this mushroom is gray or white, sometimes it has an olive tint. It is soft and loose, slightly watery. The strong almond smell, which gave the mushroom its name, can be felt in wet weather, being a meter away from the mushroom. This hygrophor can often be found in the Far East from the end of August until the first days of October in pine-spruce forests on calcareous soils. Occasionally found next to fir. It has excellent taste in salted and pickled form.
Reddish
The red hygrophor mushroom has a classic appearance: a domed hat and a rather long leg. The fully ripened mushroom opens the hat. Its surface is pinkish with sparse yellow spots. It is uneven in texture and shade. In August or September, this mushroom is easily found in mixed or coniferous forests. Most often, it appears under pines or firs, with which it perfectly adjoins.
Despite the fact that this mushroom is eaten, it should be recognized that it does not have a special smell and taste, it is often used as a supplement. Outwardly, this hygrophor resembles a russula. It is almost the same, but thicker and larger. Professional mushroom pickers carefully examine plates to detect differences.
Hygrophor meadow
The cap of the young mushroom is convex, but gradually it opens and becomes almost flat with a thin edge and a small central tubercle. It is painted in pale orange or red. Rare, rather thick plates descend onto a smooth, tapering leg of a cylindrical shape. This edible fungus is most often found in dry or moderately humid meadows, pastures, much less often in bright forests in late summer or early autumn.
The mushroom is similar to the edible Colemann hygrophor, which has a reddish-brown hat and whitish plates. It grows in swampy and wet meadows.
Golden
The hygrophor got its name because of small yellow blotches on the entire surface. It has a small hat (four to eight centimeters in diameter), which is slightly convex in the young mushroom and spread out in fully ripened. A very dense leg up to seven centimeters high can be slightly curved, covered over the entire length with yellowish scales.
The plates are thick and rare, cream-colored. Beautiful white flesh has a very unpleasant odor. There are no doubles in this species. This mushroom grows in Europe and North America from the first days of August to mid-October in deciduous forests. Most often found next to lindens and oaks. Due to the unpleasant odor, this edible mushroom is rarely used in cooking.
Larch
This mushroom hygrophor has a very noticeable hat of bright lemon or yellow color. It is spread and covered with a rather large layer of mucus. The cylindrical shape of the leg, which at the base slightly thickens, grows to eight centimeters.
Sometimes you can see the mucous filaments connecting the leg with a hat. The plates are slightly lighter than the caps. The pulp is white or has a light yellow tint. These mushrooms are harvested from early August to the very end of September in southern European countries. Most often found under larch trees. In cooking, it can be used in almost any form.
