Mushrooms are beautiful peculiar representatives of the kingdom of wildlife, differing from each other in color, shape of a hat and even taste. Their appearance is simple and ornate, original and caricatured. Probably every mushroom picker at least once in his life admired the grace and grace of these protein delicacies.
Have you ever come across an orange mushroom? If yes, then you probably drew attention to its bright cheerful color and thought - is it edible? This article will be devoted to this organism. What is an orange mushroom? Where does it grow? Is it possible to eat it? Moreover, a little lower we will analyze another, no less important question: "How to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones, so as not to get confused and make a fatal mistake?".
Varieties
First of all, it should be mentioned that neither in biology nor in botany there is a separate family or species called "orange mushroom". When we meet representatives of this color in the forest, we are talking only about the diversity of the individual color, and not about the collective name of a particular subspecies. What kind of mushrooms have a bright, rich orange color? Let's briefly get acquainted with some instances of mushroom families and find out the conditions for their growth.
Boletus and its description
The most common orange mushroom is boletus. This family is considered completely edible and combines many subspecies. First of all, it is the boletus red, yellow-brown and oak. It is their hats that have a bright, richly orange color.
Red boletus (also called red-headed, or krasyuk) has a very tasty fleshy white flesh. A hat of this type can reach thirty centimeters in diameter, but often the sizes vary from four to fifteen centimeters. The color of the cap of this large orange mushroom is most often dominated by red or reddish shades. It is worth mentioning here that the color depends on the growing conditions. For example, in forests where aspen trees predominate, the mushroom cap has dark red hues. If poplars are more common, then the hat becomes slightly grayish, but if the forests are mixed - then orange or yellow-red.
Gray scaly legs of the mushroom, expanding to the bottom, also have different lengths (from five to fifteen centimeters) and thickness (from one and a half to five centimeters). Red boletus is not capricious regarding trees with which it enters into a natural symbiosis. They can be oaks, birch, beech, hornbeam and, of course, aspen and poplar. The growth season of the fungus is from June to October. Most often it can be found under young trees, in raw aspen trees and even along roads. Tasty red-headed in any preparation. However, many recommend removing his legs, as they are rather harsh in taste and difficult to digest in the human gastrointestinal tract.
Yellow-brown boletus is another variety of orange mushroom. Its hemispherical hat with a diameter of five to fifteen centimeters can sometimes reach 25 cm. It has a dry, rough skin of orange or yellow-brown color. The dense white flesh of the mushroom begins to turn blue when cut. The leg of the yellow-brown boletus can be very thick (2-4 cm in diameter, sometimes reaching seven centimeters). Its length is also diverse and depends on the parameters of the entire specimen: from eight to fifteen centimeters and above. Yellow-brown boletus prefers to create mycorrhiza with birch. He loves to grow in mixed forests and pine trees. Ripening season: from June to September, sometimes until November.
Red-headed oak (or chum) is an orange mushroom that grows in the north of our country. It forms symbiotic associations with oaks, beginning to appear from mid-summer until late autumn. The hemispherical cap of the oak obabka in diameter can vary between eight and fifteen centimeters. Usually her skin has a chestnut color with an orange tint. The pulp is white, has brown-gray veins, and can be painted black at the cut. The cylindrical leg of the fungus 10-15 cm high and 2-3 cm thick has small scales and can thicken at the base.
Such common mushrooms
Ginger is another variety of orange mushroom. They differ in bright orange, even red color. They are very appreciated for their taste, some subspecies are even considered delicious. The color of saffron milk owes such a substance as beta-carotene, which is converted into useful trace elements (B vitamins, ascorbic acid, vitamin A).
Also, this family is rich in mineral salts of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and even calcium. Moreover, these fungi contain a natural antibiotic - lactrioviolin, which is used for inflammatory diseases and is used in complex therapy for the treatment of tuberculosis. Let's talk about some types of these edible orange mushrooms.
Ginger real
Sometimes it is also called a delicacy lactator. It refers to agaric mushrooms, fully colored in orange. A smooth and shiny hat of this type in diameter can reach from 4 to 18 centimeters. Its surface with brown spots in wet weather is sticky and unpleasant to the touch. Frequent and thin plates, orange, like the whole mushroom, when pressed, can turn slightly green.
The foot of a camelina real is low (up to seven centimeters) and thin (two centimeters in diameter), can be covered with a soft light fluff. The dense pulp also has an orange color, greening when broken. Delicious miller is often found in pine or spruce forests, where it is hidden in dense grass or among moss. Growth season: from July to October.
Spruce ginger
This is a mushroom with an orange hat from the Syroezhkov family. Its cylindrical leg (three to seven centimeters high and one centimeter thick) is rather brittle and hollow inside. The orange pulp, green when broken, has a fruity aroma and taste. The small orange hat of the plant has a diameter of four to eight centimeters. Records, descending and frequent, are slightly lighter than the hat itself. The color of the fungus itself can vary between pale pink and dark orange. Spruce mushrooms grow from summer to autumn in spruce forests, hiding in a natural litter covered with pine needles.
Red saffron milk
This is another variety of agaric mushrooms. The hat is orange in color, dense and fleshy to the touch, in diameter varies from five to fifteen centimeters. The mushroom pulp has a white color, on which dark red spots are randomly located. At the break, the flesh gives off a thick, blood-red scarlet juice. Frequent and thin plates, placed under the bottom of the cap, deeply descend along the leg of camelina. The leg itself is small, about four to six centimeters high, tapers to the bottom. It is covered with plaque and riddled with red pits. The color of the legs can be different: orange, pink and even purple. This type of fungus is not widespread in Russia, most often grows in coniferous forests of mountainous slopes.
Japanese saffron
These mushrooms are found in the valleys of Primorsky Krai under high-growing fir trees. Hats of this species, with a diameter of six to eight centimeters, are decorated with all kinds of ocher colors, while the plates have brighter, more saturated colors of orange hues. The leg of the mushroom (five to eight centimeters high and one to two centimeters thick) is often hollow inside and brittle, also has a bright orange color.
Small varieties
Bear ears (or sarcosciffus scarlet) are small orange mushrooms that are common throughout the world, but rarely used in folk cooking. The pulp of these mushrooms is very elastic, but edible, especially tasty after frying in a heated frying pan. Hats of this type, with a diameter of up to five centimeters, usually have an orange-scarlet color. Mushrooms grow on felled tree trunks, covered with a layer of soil or dry foliage. Appear in the cool season (in early spring or even in winter).
Another type of small mushroom is an orange aleuria, distinguished by its unusual appearance. The fruiting body of the fungus is saucer-shaped, varied in shape and size. In height, these representatives of eukaryotes usually do not exceed five centimeters. This small, bright orange mushroom has a thin, cartilaginous pulp, pleasant in taste and aroma, as well as a short, slightly pronounced leg. Orange siluria grows in a variety of forest stands; it can even be found in parks, on lawns, and between stones. It grows in soil from summer to late autumn. You can use this mushroom in cooking after drying, for example, adding to soups or to fries.
Unusual species
Among the natural diversity of orange mushrooms, non-standard forms are also distinguished. First of all, it is orange slingshot and sulfur-yellow tinder. The hornet has a thin, club-shaped body shape, slightly oblong and pleasant to taste. It grows from the end of summer to the cold, loves dry open places and clearings. The tinder fungus, on the contrary, appears in May and bears fruit until September. This representative of wildlife is conditionally edible, as it can cause some toxic reactions. The mushroom is a parasite that infects trees such as poplar, pine, oak, willow, birch, chestnut, and walnut.
Its fruiting body is heterogeneous, up to seven centimeters thick and with a cap size from ten to forty centimeters. Weight can reach nine kilograms. The mushroom pulp is soft and juicy, sour in taste, with an unusual lemon smell. However, if the tinder funnel ages, its nutritional and aromatic qualities deteriorate quickly. Young mushrooms are used boiled and fried, for salting and as a filling for pies. After drying, they become brittle, fibrous and very light, can be stored frozen for a long time. If the mushroom is old or grows on conifers, then it is impossible to eat it, as it can cause all kinds of allergic reactions and poisoning.
Chanterelles
Chanterelles are a whole family of mushrooms with an orange leg and the same hat. Not all of them are edible, as it might seem at first glance. The following names of mushrooms are considered tasty and nutritious: the chanterelle is velvety, the chanterelle is faceted and the blackberry is yellow.
The velvet chanterelle hat is small, about four to five centimeters. The foot is also small, measuring two or three centimeters. The orange flesh is delicate and slightly sour in taste. The fungus settles in acidic soil, mainly among deciduous plants.
Faceted chanterelle is a very beautiful representative of wildlife, with a fibrous fruit body ranging in size from three to ten centimeters. It forms mycorrhiza with oak, grows from June to October. Poisonous chanterelles include species such as false chanterelles and olive omphaloth, which is quite rare, mainly in the Crimea.
Poisonous
False chanterelle is an inedible orange mushroom similar to chanterelles. Its other name is orange talker. The govorushka differs from his edible counterparts in the red-orange hue of the hat and almost even edges, as well as an unpleasant odor. The mushroom cap varies between two and six centimeters in diameter, and the stalk, usually very short, rarely reaches four centimeters. And yet, the false chanterelle is considered a conditionally inedible product, as it is successfully used in the culinary of other countries after a long and thorough heat treatment.
The cobweb orange-red is another type of poisonous mushroom that is considered deadly. The hemispherical head of the cobweb in the center has a small tubercle, and the leg, small in height, tapers to the base.
So, we briefly examined the description of different mushrooms with orange colors. Now, let's briefly discuss how to distinguish edible mushroom from inedible mushroom.
