Champignon forest - a description of where it grows, the toxicity of the fungus

True lovers of “silent hunting” do not wait for the rainy July, when edible mushrooms of various species begin to climb out from the ground. True mushroom pickers know that with the onset of summer (or even at the end of spring) unpretentious and tasty champignons appear. They grow everywhere - in meadows, fields, in the forest. Forest champignon is not as common as its counterparts, it is not common, so any mushroom picker will be happy to cut this delicious and nutritious mushroom.

Description

Forest champignon (another name - large champignon, popularly referred to as a cap or a niche), looks like a small round cap, under which a long leg. In a young mushroom, the brown-pink hat has the shape of an ovoid bell about 5 centimeters in diameter, straightens out over time, becoming flat-convex and reaches a diameter of 14-16 centimeters, while maintaining a characteristic tubercle in the center. Covered in radius with small scales of brownish-brown color. If you put pressure on the hat, it turns red, but immediately turns brown. The pulp is not very thick - even thin, light, when you break it, it becomes a little red, it smells nice. Lamellar mushroom, lamellae are often located, initially white, with age becoming pink, brown, almost black.

The leg is in the shape of a cylinder, length is from 5 to 7 cm, diameter reaches 1.5 cm, at the base it is swollen, can be even or slightly curved, at first it is full, as the mushroom grows older it becomes empty. Young mushrooms are off-white in color, in adults - light brown. There is a white film in the form of a hanging ring, which disappears with age. Chocolate color spores.

Spread

It grows in large groups, begins to bear fruit in late July and up to October, and in good weather - in October. It is restored quite quickly - a few days after collection at the same place you can again see a group of mushrooms. They are found in large quantities near anthills - apparently, the ants have learned to use the mycelium of the fungus for their own purposes, and the champignon itself has something from these little hard workers.

How to distinguish from poisonous species?

But even experienced mushroom pickers have a danger of plucking a poisonous mushroom that looks very similar to edible in all respects. There are many types of inedible mushrooms that have the same symptoms as the desired mushroom. Yes, and frankly poisonous, pale grebe and fly agaric, can successfully disguise themselves as edible. How to distinguish them and not get into trouble? To distinguish twins, you need to pay attention to some features. So, on the head of the double in the center there is a brown spot, when pressed on it acquires a bright yellow hue.

There are other indicators and signs:

For example, a broken false champignon begins to smell like a pharmacy - carbolic acid or iodine, and when boiled, the mushrooms and water become yellow for some time. Even a long heat treatment does not relieve the product of accumulated toxic substances.

Sometimes there is confusion with other types of champignons, conventionally considered edible. One of these is Möller's champignon, which is classified as slightly poisonous. It contains toxins that can adversely affect the human body. The distinguishing features of him are as follows:

• The hat has a gray color, closer to the ash.
• When cut, the flesh turns brown and smells unpleasant.
• Plates on young mushrooms of a light pinkish color.

Often, forest champignon is confused with a young pale grebe disguised as it. It is quite simple to recognize it - at the very base of the mushroom there are so-called Volvos (root bags), which are not noticed by many mushroom pickers. When the pulp is broken, a bright yellow color appears on it.

Another mushroom that is accepted by edible mushrooms is light mushroom. But it’s quite easy to recognize - it’s worth breaking the hat, and an unpleasant pungent smell will immediately say that the mushroom is unusable.

Poisonous doubles choose shaded areas for growth, hiding from the rays of the sun. Amanita grows not only under fir trees, but also in birch forests, and toadstool everywhere.

What forest mushroom looks like poisonous mushrooms

What is the difference and similarity of champignon and pale toadstool? It is worth paying attention to the details.

Similarity
First of all, the dimensions: the toadstool has the same leg length and the hat can also have similar dimensions.

Both the one and the other fungus have a ring on the leg. Only in the grebe it disappears with time, while in the edible champignon it remains until the end of life, completely covering the bottom of the hat.

Differences
The toadstool is thinner and less fleshy, while the edible double is thick and dense.

You also need to look at the color tone of the hat. The grebe, both above and below, is equally dirty white (it can be greenish with age), while in the champignon the lower part is painted in pinkish color.

The grebes have thick and light flesh

The found mushroom must be sniffed - the champignon has a characteristic aroma inherent in all mushrooms, slightly resembling the smell of almonds. While the poisonous double is completely odorless.

To preserve the beneficial and nutritional qualities of champignons must be properly processed. It is necessary to remove adhering pieces of soil, remove dried or wilted areas, clean rot from mushrooms, cut legs. Having done this, the mushrooms are washed and begin to cook. They make very tasty soups, they are fried, often with potatoes. And just fried mushrooms perfectly complement vegetable dishes. Also, the harvest can be dried - in winter, dried mushrooms diversify the table.

The safety of the harvested crop is easy to verify in a popular way: in a pan with mushrooms you need to throw ordinary onions. If only normal mushrooms are boiled, nothing will happen to it, otherwise the bulb will turn blue.

About the benefits and dangers of champignons

What benefits can the human body get with champignons? It turns out great.

1. They contain a lot (more than 90%) of water, the use of which is not necessary, a lot of valuable proteins, carbohydrates, organic compounds and acids, a lot of necessary vitamins (PP, B6, B12, C) and minerals, metals (iron, potassium) phosphorus, zinc). By the way, phosphorus is not less than in fish products, and even more vitamin B than in vegetables ripped from the garden.
2. Due to the low calorie content, champignons find their use in various diets, while a person does not deprive himself of the necessary substances.
3. Also, the use of champignons that do not contain sugar and any fats is useful for diabetics.
4. High levels of thiamine will help those with headaches. And vitamin B5 relieves fatigue.
5. In mushrooms, among other things, there are substances that act as a cholesterol destroyer, so you can and should eat them to get rid of cholesterol plaques.
6. And dry mushrooms are good for those suffering from diseases of the digestive system - hepatitis and stomach ulcers.

There is little harm from champignons.In addition to being easily confused with poisonous mushrooms (as discussed above), a high chitin content can be noted - this component is difficult to digest and harms children, making it difficult to absorb useful and necessary substances. Therefore, the child should not be given too many cooked mushrooms.

Video: forest champignon (Agaricus silvaticus)