In early spring, when the last snow melts and everything revives around, the first mushrooms appear in our forests - stitches and morels.
Wrinkled, with a wonderful aroma, these mushrooms have long been revered in Russia. There are legends according to which such mushrooms help maintain youth. In addition, this spring "snowdrop" is also mentioned in birch bark letters, which archaeologists found under the St. Panteleimon Cathedral in Novgorod. They described the fact of treating morels and lines of diseases such as myopia, age-related hyperopia and other eye diseases (a special tincture was prepared from the mentioned mushrooms).
In our time, line mushrooms also got into the laboratory. With the help of numerous studies, the healing properties of these mushrooms have been confirmed. A substance was found in them that not only strengthens the eye muscles, but also actively helps maintain the transparency of the eye lens.
How to find them in the forest? Morels are rather large mushrooms with a distinctly separated leg and hat. The latter is folded and has a brown color in various shades. Spores are located on the entire surface of the cap. There are two types of morels - edible and conical. They can be distinguished by the shape of the hat: the first has a rounded hat of gray-brown color with deep cells. The hat of the conical morel is elongated, resembles a cap trimmed from above, the base of which has an edge adhered to the leg. Moreover, his hat is much darker than that of the edible morel.
Line mushrooms are close relatives of morels. You can also distinguish them by a hat. It has an irregular shape and consists of many messy folds.
In appearance, it resembles the brain. The color of the hat is dark brown. Leg is thicker than morel. In addition, this species is considered conditionally edible. In words it is much more difficult to convey how the morel mushrooms and lines look. Photos are more informative, using them to recognize mushrooms in the forest will be much easier. Now is the time to find out where they can be found.
Stroke and morel mushrooms love to settle in those places where there was previously a bonfire. That is why very often they can be found in large quantities in places where forest fires occurred. Morels appear first. Most often, mushrooms appear in open and warmed places - in forest glades. It must be remembered that one by one they do not grow. If morel is visible in the clearing, then there is probably more nearby, you just need to look carefully among last year's dried grass.
For inexperienced mushroom pickers, it should be said that of these types of mushrooms, one has in its body such a toxin as gyromitrin. In small doses, it is safe, but in large doses it has the same effect as pale grebe. This toxin does not lose its properties even when boiling and washing. The fungus containing this substance is a string. Morel is a mushroom that does not contain such poison, so it is safer. But, in spite of this, they cannot be eaten raw, and appropriate treatment is necessary. And skillfully cooked dishes - that of morels, that of the lines - are quite appetizing and tasty.
