How to distinguish mushrooms from false mushrooms and toadstools

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

Honey mushroom is one of the most popular and demanded types of mushrooms, which is valued for its taste. You can also meet honey mushrooms on store shelves, but lovers of "quiet hunting" prefer to collect them on their own. Therefore, it will be useful to know how to distinguish edible mushrooms from false mushrooms. Below are not only photos, but also a detailed description of the mushrooms.

Appearance of edible mushrooms

Before heading to the forest, you need to study the main characteristics and features that are inherent in edible mushrooms:

1. Pleasant aroma. Inedible mushrooms have an earthy and musty smell.
2. Light brown color. Toadstools are always striking, as they are much brighter in color. Moreover, the shade of inedible mushrooms varies from acidic to orange.
3. There are small scales. There is no drawing on the false experiments.
4. The presence of light plates. Poisonous species stand out in greenish and brown shades. The older the grebe, the darker the plate.
5. Edible mushrooms have thin legs, where small rings are located. Height is only 4-6 cm. Toadstools have long and thick legs.

Experienced mushroom pickers also recommend paying attention to the sprouts. As a rule, edible mushrooms grow in groups. Poisonous species, on the other hand, grow together in pairs.

How to distinguish real honey mushrooms by taste

It is extremely dangerous to check any mushrooms in this way at home - there is a high risk of food intoxication and poisoning. However, in some cases, this cannot be avoided. For example, a mushroom picker gathered a crop and could not, by external parameters, recognize where there are real mushrooms, and where are false ones. At the same time, during the cooking process, he did not smell a bad smell.

Poisonous mushrooms are very bitter and unattractive to the taste. If you feel bitterness, you should immediately stop cooking and take all measures to avoid food poisoning. As a rule, the first symptoms will appear after a few hours.

It is recommended to immediately wash out the stomach, take activated charcoal. Drinking plenty of fluids is important. After providing first aid, it is imperative to contact a doctor for help.

What is the difference between autumn and winter mushrooms

Autumn mushrooms (Armillaria mellea) can be found in late August or early September. This species is characterized by a thick flesh, a yellowish-brown cap with dark-colored scales and light plates. The leg is long and thin. To the bottom, it thickens. There is a small ring at the top of the leg.

Autumn mushrooms grow on tree stumps and roots, usually in coniferous and deciduous forests. Sometimes honey agarics can be found on soil or moss.

Winter (Flammulina velutipes) appear after frost. They have a convex head of a yellowish-red hue, they have thick flesh. They emit a weak mushroom aroma. The cylindrical stem of winter mushrooms is brownish-brown. The diameter of the cap is from 2 to 10 cm.

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As practice has shown, not all mushroom pickers can distinguish between autumn and winter mushrooms from false mushrooms. The fact is that toadstools grow in the same area as real mushrooms. In this case, it is enough to focus on the form.

If the mushroom has a bell-shaped or flat cap of a yellow, gray or even olive shade, then you have a false mushroom before you. There are no scales on the toadstool, so at the time of collection it is worth carefully examining the hat.

Description of summer mushrooms

Summer mushrooms (Kuehneromyces mutabilis) can bear fruit not only in the warm season. Sometimes mushrooms grow in the fall. Summer mushrooms have long brown legs and large caps, the diameter of which can be 10 cm. The color of mushrooms varies from yellow to brown. The pulp has a pleasant aroma and taste.

In terms of external characteristics, summer mushrooms are similar to toadstools. In this case, many mushroom pickers get lost and do not know how to distinguish real mushrooms from false mushrooms and toadstools. In order not to be mistaken, it is worth paying attention to the splices. Summer mushrooms grow in large groups. And if there are only 2-3 mushrooms in the aggregate, you should not take them.

How to tell by smell

At the time of collection, not everyone manages to feel the true aroma of mushrooms. This increases the risk of poisoning. There is a simple but effective method on how to distinguish real mushrooms from false mushrooms when cooking. To do this, it is enough to place the collected mushrooms in boiling water.

The edible honey mushrooms contain essential oils, which are fully revealed during the cooking process. As a result, the mushrooms smell good. The smell of false specimens is very different - they have it raw and rotten. Sometimes false mushrooms smell like mold.

If you know the distinguishing features, you can easily distinguish real mushrooms from false ones. The main thing is to carefully examine the mushrooms at the time of collection.