Umbrella blushing - description, where it grows, poisonousness of the fungus

The blushing umbrella (Macrolepiota rhacodes) is an edible mushroom that is still little known. Belongs to the Champignon family. Its other name is Coop. He got this name because in fried form it resembles chicken meat. The name Shaggy Umbrella is also found - this is due to the appearance of the fungus, it is all as if in rags.

Where can I meet?

He prefers a temperate climate, humus soils and open areas. It is found in clearings, clearings, and even in parks. Very widespread, growing on almost all continents. Fruit bodies form groups, one rarely seen. Mushrooms appear from the beginning of summer and grow until late autumn.

Description of appearance

The reddening umbrella has the following distinctive features:

1. The hat is light, painted brown or brown closer to the top. It has characteristic flakes. They are large enough and painted in pinkish or grayish color. These scales make the mushroom shaggy. In young mushrooms, the hat is spherical, and with age straightens to flat. The edge often cracks. In the middle of the hat there is a dark brown spot, and from it flakes diverge around. Inside, a delicate pulp with a pleasant aroma. Immediately after cutting, it is white, and then acquires a red-brown shade.
2. The leg is round, medium in thickness. Above is slightly narrowed. On the cut after white, the red-brown color is even stronger. The leg circumference is within 2 cm, and the height is a maximum of 15 cm. Inside it is hollow, it comes off the head very easily. The surface is generally smooth, but there are few fibers. In young mushrooms, the leg is light, and in the process of aging becomes brownish. Closer to the hat there is a soft ring, similar to a film, with a white color on top and brown underneath. Its surface is covered with small scales.
3. The plates of the reddening umbrella are located freely and have a width of up to 1.5 cm. The plates themselves are white, and the spores ripening in them are also white.

Noteworthy facts about the blushing umbrella:

1. Legs, as a rule, do not eat, but due to their bactericidal properties in dried form they are used to disinfect space, for example, in an apartment.
2. Mushroom pickers are reluctant to collect umbrellas because of their similarity with poisonous species. For cooking, they are cut only by experienced lovers of "silent hunting."

Eating

At the reddening umbrella, it is hats that are used for food; their flesh is tender and tasty. The legs are too hard, so they are usually left. Before cooking the mushroom, it is necessary to remove the scales from the hats.

Mushrooms are harvested in a young state, and good cooking is important when cooking. Very small umbrellas are collected for pickling. More adult copies are good for drying, salting and cooking various soups, sauces and as a filling in baked goods.

They like to collect a reddening umbrella because it contains many vitamins and minerals, it contains tyrosine, melanin and arginine.

This mushroom is also used in folk medicine. Various tinctures on the reddening umbrella and extracts from it help to combat rheumatism, heart and blood vessel diseases, nervous disorders, and even oncology. This mushroom is a dietary product and is approved for use in diabetes. Do not eat it:

• women bearing or nursing a child;
• in children under 5 years old;
• with problems with the stomach or intestines;
• sick with pancreatitis.

Similar species

The blushing umbrella has similar species, both edible and poisonous. Mushroom pickers need to be very careful when picking it.

Edible Mushrooms:

1. Girl's umbrella (Leucoagaricus puellaris). Autumn resembles the aforementioned chicken coop, but its hat is lighter in color and the color of the mushroom changes quite a bit at the cut.
2. Variegated Umbrella (Macrolepiota procera). The size of this mushroom is larger, that is, the hat exceeds 20 cm in diameter. The slice does not change in color.
3. Thin umbrella (Macrolepiota gracilenta). This representative of the species is smaller than the reddening umbrella and also leaves its color when cut.

1. Chlorophyllum dark brown (Chlorophyllum brunneum). He has a brownish color. On the hat, the scales are larger in size than the blushing umbrella. On the leg is characteristic for him and quite noticeable thickening.
2. Chlorophyllum lead-slag or Morgan's umbrella (Chlorophyllum molybdites). The mushroom is very poisonous and at the same time looks like a reddening umbrella. The hat varies in size from 10 to 30 cm, white with brown-pink scales. At a young age, it looks like a ball, and then opens to a flat state. The leg is also smooth, with a ring in the upper part. The flesh turns red on the cut, but it does not have a pronounced smell. The fungus is widespread both in Eurasia and in Africa, Australia and America. The plates are white, but if you press them, they turn yellow, and sometimes they turn brown. Old mushrooms have greenish, olive-colored plates.

Video: blushing umbrella (Chlorophyllum rhacodes)