How to recognize winter mushrooms and distinguish them from false mushrooms. Forest mushrooms (species): winter honey agarics - flammulina, summer, autumn, meadow, royal, spruce Do mushrooms grow in winter in the forest

Honey mushrooms are a complex group of mushrooms that combines several types of culture families. If we cover the issue extensively, it is worth noting that the mushrooms we are considering are not necessarily edible, there are also poisonous species of mushrooms.

Types of forest mushrooms

Inexperienced mushroom pickers may adhere to the belief that the forest mushroom grows exclusively on fallen stumps and other, inanimate wood, but this is not so - the culture can develop both on the forest floor and in ordinary grass. The most common and familiar representatives are used for food - they can be boiled, frozen, fried, dried, salted or pickled.

There are several types of "good" forest fruits - autumn, summer and winter. The names of the varieties speak for themselves, that is, they indicate what season the crop "belongs" to.

Let's consider the issue in more detail.

Winter honey agaric (flammulina), photo and description

With the onset of cold mushroom season continues. Some types of mushrooms are resistant to frost, and can grow under snow. Winter honey agaric– a unique look that is not afraid low temperatures. Thanks to the amazing ability to grow when it's cold outside, he got his name. This species belongs to the Ryabovaceae family. It is also called winter mushroom or flammulina.

What does it look like

The description is worth reading before you go on a quiet hunt in the cold. In a young honey agaric, the hat has the shape of a ball. As they grow older, the cap gradually straightens. Its surface is sticky, especially in rainy or snowy weather. Hat diameter - 8-10 cm.

Color - yellow-brown or yellow, light at the edges and darker in the center. On the back of the cap there are plates that are located at a small distance from one another. They are distinguished by a pleasant ocher color. Young species are lighter, darker with age. The leg is not very long - usually up to 10 cm. The flesh is sour, yellowish-white, has a pleasant, light aroma.

The smell of winter representatives cannot be called pronounced, but their taste is quite rich.

It is noteworthy, but mushrooms can be grown independently, as well as stocking up on mushrooms for future use.

How to collect

This should be done from November to March. winter honey agaric superficially resembles poisonous mushroom- gallery. It is important to carefully examine each fungus before placing it in the basket. Galerina has a ring, which is located on the leg - this is the main distinguishing feature, the main difference between edible and inedible species. These species have different periods of maturation, therefore they are rare at the same time, usually at the end of November. Before collecting, you should look at the photo so as not to be mistaken.

Look for a fungus next to water bodies, in parks, garden areas, on the edges, lawns. He prefers to bear fruit large groups, like the classic types of mushrooms. The main population grows in the temperate zone.

The nutritional value

Flammulina is an edible mushroom that belongs to the fourth category. By this it is meant that in terms of nutritional qualities it corresponds to other varieties - meadow mushrooms, raincoats, oyster mushrooms.

Winter honey agaric can be used:

pickled;
fried;
salted;
dried;
boiled.

The most nutritious and delicious are hats. The legs are very fibrous, tough, so they are rarely eaten. If the fungus is old, this part is easier to cut off, as it is no longer suitable for food. Even if you use young types, it is advisable to cut off the bottom of the leg - it is the hardest.

Winter mushrooms are rich in proteins, contain a lot necessary for a person amino acids. According to these indicators, they surpass products of plant origin, more nutritious than many vegetables, berries, fruits. Flammulina is a storehouse of useful microelements and minerals.

Conclusion

Great taste is not the main advantage of this product. Due to the complex positive effects on the human body, it is very loved in Japan. Winter mushrooms contain a special substance flammulin. It is distinguished by its antitumor effect, therefore it is effective in the fight against oncological diseases. The constant use of honey agaric helps to reduce cholesterol levels, and high-quality protection against atherosclerosis. Because it is often used by cosmetologists and pharmacists.

As for the summer representatives of the culture we are considering, you can feast on them from May to September. The perfect place habitats for the species are rotten trees and semi-decayed wood where high humidity is maintained. For example, near streams.

What the summer honey agaric looks like depends on weather conditions. If dampness prevails in the region and precipitation often falls, the mushroom cap darkens from the middle to the edges. In drought conditions, the cap becomes one-color, light brown in color. Spores are brown when they are light in winter representatives. The older the "individual", the darker its color.

Experienced mushroom pickers advise caution in collecting summer mushrooms, since there is a high probability of confusing them with poisonous counterparts. The main rule in this case is not to harvest in a forest with a predominance of coniferous trees, and also - directly on the stumps of resinous crops.

Mushroom mushroom autumn: what it looks like, photo

Autumn mushrooms are considered the most fragrant and delicious in many regions of our country. Today we will consider such a variety of mushroom as autumn mushroom - its description, as well as the principles by which it can be determined whether the fruit is edible in front of the collector.

Grains on the hat.

Description

Before discussing the appearance of the autumn honey agaric, it is important to determine the ripening period of the variety. As a rule, the harvest can be harvested starting from the last week of August and throughout September - it all depends on climatic conditions each individual region. Honey mushrooms grow in colonies, the so-called waves, the first "influx" is usually the most abundant, the subsequent ones decline. Each wave lasts from several days to a week, and the fruits can disappear very suddenly. You can guess their appearance, focusing on precipitation - mushroom pickers prefer to reconnoiter the forest belt a few days after heavy rain.

Let's move on to how to distinguish autumn mushrooms from other varieties of the family or other inedible crops:

The autumn honey agaric is distinguished by a hat bent inward. The head of the mushroom resembles half a neat ball, the maximum diameter is no more than 16 centimeters. Optimal size a young but mature fruit - up to 10 centimeters up and 6-10 centimeters in the widest part of the fungus. The color is creamy brown, a small tubercle often grows in the center of the cap. The surface is covered with small scales.
The fruit stem becomes thinner at the point of contact with the cap, quite stable, bordered by a light film ring. The average thickness is 1-1.5 centimeters.
The spores of the fungus are white-yellow in color, the plates are thin and multiple, they can change color from light to brown, descending.

The pulp of the delicacy is light, dense in texture, exudes a persistent mushroom aroma and is slightly sour. The fruit is completely edible, but some mushroom pickers prefer not to eat the legs of the plant - they are fibrous and tougher.

Where does it grow

As for habitats, the most favorable substrate for the variety we are considering is the inanimate wood of fallen deciduous trees, stumps, etc. It is believed that more mushrooms can be found on trees that have fallen near the stream, in conditions high humidity. Look carefully where the crop grows - on softwood most often inedible specimens develop.

Prevention of poisoning

Every person from childhood knows that you need to pick a mushroom only when you are sure of its edibility. Failure to follow this simple rule can lead to serious poisoning or even death.

Let's talk about the precautions that every mushroom picker needs to remember, regardless of experience.

First of all, it is worth remembering that almost every mushroom has an inedible counterpart - this is how nature works. Therefore, in no case should you blindly harvest without checking the product in all respects.

Before each visit to the forest, make sure that you remember all the distinguishing features of the mushroom you plan to collect. If in doubt, find a photo of the plant and brush up on what it looks like.
Inexperienced mushroom pickers are advised to study all types of forest "gifts", similar, in our case, to honey agarics. If a person is not confident in their own memory, you can even print a photo of the fetus, taking it with you. Then it will certainly be possible to avoid a dangerous mistake.
It is categorically impossible to listen to the advice of frivolous forest lovers - there are often beliefs that Russian forests are free from poisonous plants. This is not true.

Since we are talking about autumn mushrooms, we will cite as an example their counterparts - false mushrooms. They are inedible and even dangerous to health, while outwardly they look more like summer representatives than autumn ones. There may be several false counterparts of the fungus we are considering - some are simply unsuitable for food, others are frankly poisonous.

To protect yourself, pay attention to the presence of a film ring around the stem of the fungus. Edible representatives have this ring, while inedible representatives do not. The color is also important - in the first case, the color of the hat is less attractive, in the second - brighter. Real mushrooms smell like all other edible counterparts (boletus mushrooms, boletus mushrooms), false ones give off the “aroma” of earth, mold and dampness.

Follow the golden rule - if you are not sure which mushroom is in front of you, leave it in the forest after passing by. It is better to bring home less fruit than to risk your own life.

Spring honey mushrooms

The genus spring mushrooms includes about 70 varieties. It has a popular name - money. The scientific name is the forest-loving collibia. This type is conditionally edible.

Where to looking for

Like other representatives of this species, this honey agaric prefers to grow on stumps. The easiest way to find a mushroom is in hard-to-reach places, aspen, spruce thickets, among old birches, in dead woods. Spring mushroom grows in large columns, large groups. The fungus is not very popular among fans " silent hunting". It is preferred by those who are well versed in all types, and will be able to distinguish real look from a false double.

Spring mushrooms love forests with deciduous and coniferous trees. They are found in Siberia, on Far East, Urals, throughout Europe. The beginning of ripening occurs in spring, May. The collection season ends in October.

Appearance

Before you go picking mushrooms, you need to know what a real representative of this species should look like. It is easy to recognize by a small hat, 2-6 cm in diameter, smooth to the touch. The hat is yellow-brown or red, convex in a young mushroom, and prostrate in an adult.

The plates are distinguished by a pale, faded shade, have a slight yellowish coating. All of them are attached to the leg, frequent. Spore powder is only white.

Leg - red-brown, smooth, has a light felt shade. The pulp in this place is hard, and closer to the base it is very fibrous. Its color is pale, the texture is tender, soft.

Useful features

Spring mushrooms are not very high quality, but are suitable for eating. They belong to category 4. They are well marinated or fried along with other types of mushrooms. Frequent use of this variety helps to strengthen the body's defenses, stabilize the cardiovascular system. Honey agaric has a positive effect on the digestive tract.

The impact on the human body is complex:

fight against viruses;
stimulation of immunity;
elimination of inflammation;
antioxidant action.

The overall impact is positive.

Compound

The product contains a lot of fiber, carbohydrates and proteins, is a source of vitamins B1, C, minerals, zinc, copper.

What to look out for

You need to carefully collect spring mushrooms, because they have poisonous twins. The easiest way to distinguish an inedible product from an edible one is by smell. False smells unpleasant - sour cabbage. It is worth looking at the leg - in twins it is pubescent.

How delicious to fry with onions

To prepare such a dish, you will need 600 grams of mushrooms and 2 large onions. Washed, cleaned forest gifts are laid out on a heated frying pan. Frying takes place without the addition of oil. Do not cover with a lid - this will lead to rapid evaporation of moisture, then the dish will turn out to be rather dry.

Then oil is added, pre-cut onions are laid out. It will be ready in about a third of an hour.

It remains to salt, pepper the dish, sprinkle with herbs before serving.

Let's say a few words about the meadow variety of mushrooms. This family is found exclusively in Primorsky Krai and the Caucasus. A distinctive feature of the culture is habitat in the grass (meadows, edges, fields). Meadow mushroom mycelium bears fruit in the warm season, that is, from about May to September.

Do they eat fruits? Exclusively caps, since the flesh of the leg is hard and lacks a pleasant mushroom taste. It is believed to be inedible.

Describing the variety, one can note the instability of the color of the cap of the culture - it can be yellow or red-brown, depending on the weather conditions prevailing in the place of growth. The leg is rather thin, unstable, covered with a slight coating.

Royal mushrooms speak for themselves - their size is in no way inferior to mushrooms. The height of the mushroom can reach 20 centimeters, identical to the diameter of the cap. The stem is thin but durable. They grow one at a time, not like other types of mushrooms, and not only on stumps, but also on living wood. They ripen from late summer to autumn frosts.

As for the color, the royal representatives of the family are distinguished by the golden color of the cap, on which there are frequent scales. The older the individual, the darker the skin of the fetus.

Royal honey mushroom is in demand among traditional healers - it is believed that it is rich in phosphorus, amino acids and other beneficial substances. The pulp of the mushroom is used for tinctures that help with diabetes.

They are characterized by small spines.

We examined which types of mushrooms are best known among mushroom pickers, presenting a detailed description of each member of the family. If you were not able to fully understand the varieties, carefully study the photo of mushrooms, visualization will help get rid of your remaining questions.

Honey mushrooms are well-deserved leaders among mushrooms, popular with people who prefer the gifts of the forest. The culture ripens several times a year, gives a rich harvest and is convenient in terms of gathering - since the fruits grow in large families, the mushroom picker does not have to walk through the forest for a long time, sometimes it is enough to find several large colonies to fill the whole basket with delicacy. Mycelium develops on fallen trees or stumps, sometimes on living, weak trunks. The most optimal substrate for the culture we are considering is inanimate wood located in places of high humidity.

In this article we will talk about such a variety of the family as spruce mushrooms, touching on the description and characteristics in general.

Why is spruce honey agaric dark

If you or your loved ones are fond of hiking in the forest, you probably know that the most delicious and popular mushroom is autumn. The mushroom attracts collectors with its neat shape, pleasant smell and delicious pulp. The second name of the autumn variety is the very spruce mushrooms that are discussed in our article.

As we noted earlier, the main habitat of culture is deciduous forests and semi-dead wood, however, develop into pine forests or spruce forests, mushrooms can also. Since mushrooms grow in almost all regions of our country, and in each geographical zone they may differ slightly in appearance, in color.

The fruiting period of the mycelium is from late August to late October. In warm regions of the country, the harvest period can last the entire first half of November.

As for the dark color of spruce mushrooms, it is wood that is the main “dye” of the pulp. The mycelium of the fungus develops on a coniferous tree, gradually grows along the trunk, climbing under the bark. Thus, the fruiting bodies collect the bitterness of the needles, along with a dark woody color.

If you have never paid attention to the color of the trunks of deciduous or coniferous trees, be sure to compare their bark - everything will fall into place.

It must be noted that taste qualities the honey agaric we are considering is specific, for an amateur. All because of the slight bitterness we mentioned earlier. However, experienced mushroom pickers say that the main thing is to properly prepare the product, then it will not yield to even the most majestic mushroom. Moreover, the “fir tree” includes all the same useful substances and trace elements as its autumn counterpart.

Description, features of culture

The spruce mushrooms we are considering belong to the physalacrium family.

The average size of the fruit cap is from 3.5 to 10 centimeters, larger representatives are rarely found.
The shape of the “head” of the mushroom resembles a hemisphere, the middle is convex, the skin is saturated brown, with frequent, large scales. The older the representative, the smoother his hat becomes, and the cylindrical leg becomes longer.
With age, the skirt that borders the leg also becomes less noticeable.
The plates of young mushrooms under the hat are light, frequent, in old ones they acquire a reddish color.

The pulp is light, exudes a barely noticeable mushroom aroma, slightly loose. Some gourmets prefer not to eat the legs, as they consider them dry and hard.

Prevention of poisoning with inedible mushrooms (twins)

Experienced, experienced lovers of forest gifts with almost eyes closed harvest and never make mistakes. But what about those who cannot boast of "iron" knowledge?

Let's talk about the distinctive features of honey mushrooms and their inedible counterparts.

First of all, every novice gatherer should visit the forest with a mushroom picker who is unmistakably versed in "silent hunting". A preliminary visual acquaintance with the future harvest live or even from pictures is not forbidden.

If you are going to the forest on your own and you do not have a mentor, capture the spruce mushrooms in the photo and show it to a specialist, or simply compare the find with pictures from the Internet. Fortunately, century modern technologies allows you to use the World Wide Web and share photos with loved ones from almost anywhere in the world.

video about a dangerous double - Hypholoma fasciculare

Main distinguishing features edible mushrooms from "bad"

Pay attention to the skirt on the leg of the fruit - inedible representatives of the forest do not have a similar one (with the exception of the toadstool). The latter can deceive the collector with its appearance, but not with its smell - its aroma, to put it mildly, is specific, unpleasant.
A good fruit should not have a Volvo cup at the base.
Beware of the bright colors of the hat - as a rule, nature is cunning and rewards inedible mushrooms an attractive color so that animals pay attention to the plant.

The easiest way to determine which mushroom is in front of you is to break open the oldest fruit from the colony and check its flesh for worms - insects will never eat a poisonous plant.

You will quickly learn how to sort your crop if you carefully study the crop and follow the recommendations of experienced people.

Winter honey agaric, photo from Wikipedia

Winter mushroom is also called winter mushroom. In the middle lane, he appears at the end of autumn. This delicious mushroom can be boiled, fried, salted, marinated and even dried. The winter mushroom is known for its antiviral and anticancer properties.

When and where does the winter mushroom grow?

winter mushroom, or honey agaric winter (Flammulina velutipes), appears in October - November, and sometimes in December. He is not afraid of autumn frosts, as the thawed mushroom continues to grow. Sometimes you can hear stories told by experienced mushroom pickers who go to pick mushrooms in the winter forest. Not to the store, but to the forest. Not for boletus or boletus, but for winter mushrooms. Fresh ones are found under the snow, and dried ones are found on tree trunks. The fungus climbs trees, pours out on fallen trunks, stumps and even in hollows. Winter mushrooms can settle in a garden with fruit trees, gradually destroying them. Therefore, you need to be careful with the waste that remains after cleaning the mushrooms. It is better not to throw them away on the site. In some countries (especially in Japan), this mushroom is cultivated as tasty and healthy. In our country, it is often brought from the forest. In the USSR, winter honey agaric was not harvested according to GOST.

Description of the winter mushroom

Collecting winter mushrooms is a pleasure. They grow in bouquets, in which mushrooms of different ages may be nearby. I get aesthetic pleasure while collecting winter mushrooms. It is always so clean, neat, honey-golden and smells nice.

Winter honey agaric has a hat 2 - 9 cm in diameter. In young mushrooms, it is convex, then becomes flat. Often there is some mucous. The color of the cap of the winter mushroom varies from pale yellow, rusty yellow, golden honey to brownish yellow (at the edges). The middle is noticeably darker. The pulp is yellowish or creamy, quite fleshy, has a pleasant mushroom smell, sometimes weak. The plates are light fawn or yellowish. Thin stem up to 6 cm high, yellowish above, hard at the base, black-brown or dark brown. It's tough so don't use it. I leave only a small top about 1 cm long to keep the shape of the mushroom. And one more important note. Winter mushrooms, from which only hats are immediately taken in the forest, it is better to collect them in baskets, as in buckets and in plastic bags they shrink quickly. If there is no basket, then it is better to leave the legs of the winter mushroom and cut it off at home.

How to cook winter mushroom?

Winter mushroom is very tasty. You can cook many dishes with it. In order to avoid trouble, this mushroom must be boiled (fried) for at least 35 - 40 minutes, like all other mushrooms. Winter mushroom caps make excellent hearty soups that are high in protein. They are cooked with onions, carrots and potatoes. Five minutes before the end of cooking, a bay leaf is added, which must be removed from the finished soup. Even better if cooked with barley. It is traditionally believed that this cereal is indispensable when cooking mushroom soup (especially from dried mushrooms) and pickle. Of course, you still need sour cream.

Winter mushroom can be stewed and fried. Sometimes at the end of frying, a little breadcrumbs are added to dry. Then the mushrooms will be crispy. I prepare winter mushrooms for the winter (sorry for the tautology) like this: I cook his hats for about five minutes, after which I pour the entire contents of the pan through a colander and leave to cool. As a rule, I process in the evening, so the colander (stainless steel) with mushrooms remains in the kitchen until the morning. In the morning I put the mushrooms in bags and put them in the freezer (minus 19 ° C). In winter, I just have to get a bag and cook soup with it or fry these wonderful mushrooms in odorless vegetable oil.

Winter mushroom can be salted and pickled

In order to avoid botulism, any canned mushrooms are recommended to be eaten before the New Year. With an increase in the shelf life, the likelihood of this serious disease, which often ends in failure, increases. Those methods of salting and pickling mushrooms that I use allow for a long time store these mushrooms in jars or other containers without closing them with tight lids.

Salted and pickled winter mushrooms are so tasty that they are eaten instantly. They are salted and marinated only in a hot way. They start by cleaning the mushrooms, leaving only the caps. You can use only the very top of the leg. Then mushrooms are sorted by size. Weigh. After that, the mushroom caps are brought to a boil and the water is drained with foam. Wash the mushrooms and boil again for at least 35 minutes from the moment of boiling. Cooked mushrooms are laid out in an enameled pan or bucket, glass jar or other container. Salt is added (40 - 50 g of salt per kilogram of cooked fresh mushrooms), spices (garlic, allspice, cloves and dill). Pour into the container quite a bit of the liquid in which the winter mushroom was boiled. A wooden circle or a flat plate of a suitable diameter with a load is placed on top. They are needed so that even the top layer of mushrooms is in the brine. Mushrooms are salted after 2 - 3 weeks. You need to store them in a cool place.

This salting method has a simplified version, in which salt and spices (except garlic) are added 10 minutes before the end of cooking. Salt should be taken to taste, making the brine slightly salty. In extreme cases, it will always be possible to add salt to the solution. This option is good because mushrooms can be immediately laid out in glass jars and poured with ready-made brine. No weighing, calculations of the amount of salt, etc. are needed. There is no need for a wooden circle and weight. Keep jars in the refrigerator or other cool place. We rarely wait until mushrooms are finally salted. We eat them a few days after salting. Add chopped onion to a bowl and green onion and vegetable oil. By the way, onions placed in pickling containers can cause souring of salted mushrooms.

You can salt boiled winter mushrooms in a dry way, without brine. To do this, after cooking (for 40 minutes), the mushrooms are washed with cold water and all the liquid is drained. Then they put it in a suitable container, sprinkling the mushrooms with salt (40-50 g per 1 kg of raw mushroom caps) and spices. With this method of salting, oppression is required. Keep mushrooms in a cool place. You can eat them after a week. It is better to wait at least three weeks for the mushrooms to salt better.

Winter mushrooms marinate perfectly. They are cleaned and boiled as for pickling. After 25 minutes of boiling, the caps are washed with fresh water, after which they are put back into the pan. Pour marinade, which is prepared as follows: add 2 tbsp to 1 liter of water. spoons granulated sugar, 1.5 st. spoons of salt, 3 pcs. cloves and allspice. The proportions can be changed (to taste). Pour 4 tbsp. spoons of 9% table vinegar. After that, the mushrooms are boiled in the marinade for 10 minutes. Cool, transfer to glass jars and loosely close (do not roll up) lids. Store jars in a cool place.

From "Housekeeping" 1956

In the end, I would like to quote excerpts from the book Home Economics, published in 1956. “With hot pickling, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 bay leaf, 3 pieces of peppercorns and cloves, 5 grams of dill, 2 blackcurrant leaves are taken for 1 kilogram of mushrooms. Pour half a glass of water (per 1 kilogram of mushrooms) into the pan, put salt and put on fire. When the water boils, put the mushrooms. During cooking, the mushrooms are gently stirred with a paddle so that they do not burn. When the water boils, carefully remove the foam with a slotted spoon, then put the pepper, bay leaf, and other seasonings and cook with gentle stirring. ... Cooked mushrooms must be carefully transferred to a wide bowl so that they cool quickly. The cooled mushrooms should be transferred together with the brine into barrels or jars and closed. Brine should be no more than one-fifth of the weight of the mushrooms. Mushrooms are ready to eat in 40-45 days.

Marinade for mushrooms is advised to prepare as follows: “For 1 kilogram of mushrooms, you need to take one and a half tablespoons of salt, half a glass of vinegar, 1 leaf of bay leaf, 0.1 grams of pepper, cloves and cinnamon and 2-3 grams of dill.” Particular attention is paid to vinegar: “The quality of marinades largely depends on the type of vinegar. Particularly tasty are marinades prepared with grape or table vinegar ... with aromatic herbs. If the vinegar is strong (6 percent), then it must be diluted by half with water, then add salt, sugar, spices (pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, coriander, bay leaf, etc.), let it boil, and then cool ” .

And one more useful tip: “To protect against mold, the marinade is poured with a thin layer vegetable oil. Banks are covered with parchment paper and tied with twine. Marinades should be stored in a cool, dry place.

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Winter is not a mushroom season. Indeed, few people scour the forest in search of mushrooms at this time - more and more at home, with a cup of hot tea. But it turns out that going for mushrooms in the cold season is not without meaning: it is then that the winter honey agaric, which will be discussed, is most abundant.

Winter honey agaric (Flammulina velutipes) is a cap mushroom of the Ryadovkovye family (Tricholomataceae). Its other name is velvety-legged flammulina or winter mushroom (the first describes appearance, the second is the collection time).

the cap reaches a diameter of 2 to 8 cm, sometimes up to 10 cm. While the mushroom is young, it is round-convex in shape, later - convex-prostrate, orange-brown in color (darker in the center). The cap is slimy and smooth, shiny when dry.
plates on the underside of the cap are sparse, slightly adherent to the stem, from yellowish-white to cream, darkening with age.
the stem reaches a height of 8 cm and a thickness of 0.3-1 cm. Cylindrical, lighter (yellow) in the upper part, dark (red, brown) and velvety in the lower part.
the flesh is light yellow in color, odorless and tasteless. In the lower part of the leg is hard, closer to the hat - soft.

Flammulina is classified as edible, the third category.

Spreading

Interestingly, this is one of the few species in in large numbers appearing in cities (gardens and parks), along high roads and near industrial enterprises.

How to collect

Mushrooms that grow on fallen trees and old stumps are easiest to pick, as they often grow quite high on living trees. In flammulin, only the upper part of the stem and the cap are cut off, since the rest of the stem (middle and lower) is too hard.

It is better to collect winter mushrooms in a basket, because they are quickly compressed in a bucket or bag. You should not collect these mushrooms, like any others, near industrial enterprises: when they grow near factories, harmful substances emitted by them into the air accumulate in the fruiting bodies.

Species-twins

Flammulina velvety-legged is similar to a deadly poisonous moth, or bright hymnopile (Gymnopilus junonius). But in the moth, the lower part of the hat looks different: in the winter honey agaric, the plates are quite rare, yellowish-white, and in the moth, they are very frequent and yellow, and there is a ring in the upper part of the leg.

Another similar appearance- summer honey agaric (Kuehneromyces mutabilis). Usually there are no problems with distinguishing them, since winter mushrooms are collected in winter, when there are no summer ones. Moreover, summer mushrooms are also edible. It looks almost the same as the winter honey agaric, but the summer honey agaric has a dark rim along the edge of the hat. In addition, summer mushrooms never grow on living trees and almost never on conifers.

In addition, winter honey agaric is confused with bordered galerina (Galerina marginata). You can distinguish them by the ring on the leg, which is present in the galerina and absent in the flammulina.

false mushrooms- several species of mushrooms, some of which are poisonous, while others are simply inedible. But it is hardly possible to confuse winter mushrooms with them, since the time of fruiting of false mushrooms diverges from the period of flammulina fruiting.

Primary processing and preparation

Like other mushrooms, winter must be boiled before cooking, 20-30 minutes. They are stewed, fried, and soups are also prepared from them. At the end of frying, you can add breadcrumbs: this will make the mushrooms crispy. For long-term storage (after which the mushrooms still need to be cooked), after boiling and drying, put the caps in bags in the freezer (at a temperature of -19 ° C).

Winter mushrooms are salted, pickled and dried. True, only hot. After the hats are boiled twice, they are put into a jar, pouring there also a little water in which they were boiled. Add salt, spices and close the jar. Honey mushrooms will be salted in 2-3 weeks. You can also salt them in a dry way, drying them after cooking and not adding water to the jar.

The nutritional value

100 g of winter mushrooms contains:

2.66 g of proteins;
0.39 g fat;
7.81 g of carbohydrates.

Calorie content - 37 kcal / 100 g.

Benefit and harm

Winter mushrooms are high in antioxidants, including ergothioneine (a typical mushroom antioxidant that stimulates immune system and restoring the skin after exposure to UV rays) and proflamin (in experiments on mice with cancer, it increased their life expectancy by 85%). They also contain lectin and P-D-glucan, which have antiviral and antibacterial properties. When used regularly, the winter mushroom treats some diseases of the liver and stomach (for example, ulcers).

Thus, picking mushrooms in winter can diversify not only gray sunless everyday life, but also your New Year's table. And at this table, you can casually mention that you picked these mushrooms a couple of weeks ago - then the guests will be surprised!

Among the mycologists who study the properties of winter mushrooms (flammulin), there is still no consensus regarding the classification of these fungi. Some attribute Flammulina velutipes to the Ryadovkov family, others to the Negniuchnikov family. Despite the fact that this fruit bodies assigned category 3-4, lovers of wandering through the forest in winter have adapted to collect flammulins to dry or pickle.

The winter period is significantly underestimated by nature lovers and mushroom pickers. Most residents still consider the mushroom season only summer and autumn. In fact, scientists have shown that winter mushrooms retain their basic properties, they can be used in food and make medicines from them.

On this page you can read the description of winter mushrooms, learn about their distinctive features and useful properties.

Distinctive signs of winter mushrooms

Hat of winter honey agaric (Flammulina velutipes) 2-8 cm in diameter, sometimes up to 10 cm, first rounded-convex with edges bent down, then convex-prostrate. A distinctive feature of the species is a slimy, smooth, yellowish or yellowish-brown, orange-yellowish, yellowish-reddish hat.

Leg 3-8 cm high, 4-9 mm thick, cylindrical, dense, elastic, often curved. The second distinctive feature of the species is the color of the stem: in the upper part it is light, yellowish or yellowish-reddish, in the lower part it is brownish and later black-brown, hairy-velvety.

The flesh at the cap is tender, soft, at the stem it is hard, yellowish, without a distinct smell and taste.

The plates are sparse, wide, wavy, slightly attached to the stem, later free, yellowish-white, notched-toothed.

Variability. The cap becomes flat with time and a brownish-yellow spot appears in the center of the cap.

As you can see in the photo, the color of the plates in winter mushrooms varies from white to reddish-yellow:

Photo gallery

The stalk is solid at first, fibrous inside, later hollow.

Similar inedible species. The caps of penetrating hymnopiles (Gymnopilus penetrans) and hybrid hymnopiles (Gymnopilus hybridus) are similar in color and shape, which differ in plates accreted and descending along the stem.

Similar poisonous species. Deadly poisonous moth, or bright hymnopile (Gymnopilus junonius), similar in orange red hat and shape, but differ in much more frequent adherent plates of light yellow color. This coincidence is significant only in autumn, since they are absent in winter.

Cooking methods. Winter mushrooms are one of the most healing. In terms of anti-inflammatory and antitumor effects, they have no equal. Therefore, they are bred in Japan and other countries and used dried or after heat treatment of no more than 80-90 degrees in order to preserve their healing properties. Use only hats, dry, pickle.

They are edible in the autumn period and at the beginning of winter of the 3rd category, and at the end of winter - of the 4th category.

General features winter mushrooms:

convex cap in young specimens and almost flat with edges turned down later;
rare plates with bridges, in mature specimens they are free, not adherent;
velvety leg;
the stipe in the upper part is sometimes flattened, but always lighter than the middle and lower parts, which are brownish or even brownish black;
appearance period: October-November;
the period of collection and growth - all winter until spring, maximum reproduction - from November to February; maximum collection - in November or October, depending on the climate, there is a May wave of these mushrooms;
withstand several thaws in winter, during these periods they multiply, throwing out spores that are carried by the wind or birds;
the color of the cap is highly variable from light yellow to bright red depending on the tree: spruce, oak, aspen, elderberry, larch, etc., the surface is also highly variable - from matte and fleecy to smooth and mucous-mirror;
the edges of the cap have a slightly lighter, often yellowish tint;
the flesh is yellowish, the smell is pleasant mushroom, the taste is soft, attractive, less sour and spicy than that of autumn mushrooms, and more often slightly sweet, spicy, edibility category 3;
grow most often on the trunks of decaying trees from the base to a height of 2-3 meters, but are also found on stumps;
grow very widely, most often in deciduous forests, preferring aspen, maple, ash, elm, willow, linden, poplar, oak, less often on birch, elder, mountain ash, shrubs, but also found on coniferous trees: spruce, pine, thuja , larch; in addition, they grow in parks, gardens on fruit trees and currants, gooseberries, lilacs; often found in parks big cities, for example, in Moscow and St. Petersburg;
spores penetrate trees and shrubs through cracks in the bark and saw cuts and places of broken branches;
grow in large groups, which is why they are classified as mushrooms.

Look at the photo of what winter mushrooms look like, the description of which is presented above:

Photo gallery

Few people collected winter mushrooms 15-20 years ago. Moreover, this applies to the autumn collection, and there were extremely rare mentions about the winter collection. However, among edible mushrooms, it is they who are the most in winter. Due to the fact that similar mushrooms cultivated there have long been brought to us from Southeast Asia (these mushrooms are called flammulins), and also because of the promotion of their amazing healing properties, they are now becoming popular. In addition, they are the most delicious winter mushrooms. They can be harvested in winter, even under snow, and during this period they do not have poisonous counterparts.

Essentially, picking mushrooms like winter mushrooms extends the "mushroom" season all year long! They grow not only in forests, but get along well in city parks and even in gardens and on summer cottages. They can be seen in the parks of huge cities on trees such as poplar, aspen, willow, oak, ash.

Pay attention to the photo - flammulin mushrooms are bright, yellowish-reddish:

Photo gallery

Depending on the tree, they have surprisingly bright colors, up to pearly reddish and brown.

Winter mushrooms have not yet been studied as well as autumn ones. That is why it is difficult to find descriptions of their forms in the domestic literature. At the same time, there are at least three of these forms even in the middle lane, since they differ greatly in color depending on the trees and places of growth.

During the periods of thaws in November, December, January, February and March, winter mushrooms can throw out spores and thus multiply and expand their habitat. In the period from December to March, winter mushrooms do not have poisonous twins, but from September to November there may be inedible and poisonous similar mushrooms: three types of hymnopiles (penetrating - Gymnopilus penetrans, hybrid - Gymnopilus hybridus, fiery - Gymnopilus junonius) and two types of galerins (bordered - Galerina marginata and moss - Galerina hypnorum).

All mushrooms have the ability to accumulate heavy metals. This property is widely discussed and in some cases has key value. Scientists from Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov carried out research on the accumulation of heavy metals - cesium by mushrooms. As a result, fungi were found that weakly accumulate heavy metals and radiocesium. This is a motley umbrella, oyster mushroom, summer and winter honey agarics, a real raincoat.

Habitats: on stumps and dead trunks of deciduous trees, as well as on living trees, especially on aspen, poplars and willow, withstand frost.

Slightly dried winter mushrooms become harder in frosts, but they can still be plucked or cut, winter mushrooms belong to this category.

Mushrooms that are caught in frost at the start of growth freeze as if in a refrigerator, they cannot be cut, but they can be plucked by carefully tapping with a ski stick or just a stick and moving from side to side, pick up at the base with a knife, it is not allowed to chop them with an ax, since this damages the trunk of the tree.

Winter honey agaric fire

Habitats of fire agaric (Flammulina velutipes, f. fl ammans): on stumps and dead trunks of deciduous and coniferous trees, as well as on living trees, especially on oak, spruce and some other deciduous trees.

The cap of the flaammulin fire mushroom is 2-8 cm in diameter, sometimes up to 10 cm, at first rounded-convex with edges bent down, then flat-convex with a slight bend of the edges downwards with a smooth surface. A distinctive feature of the species is an unusually beautiful and bright mucous-mirror surface of the cap with a yellow-red, orange-red and orange-brown color in the middle. The edges of the cap may be lighter - yellowish brown or yellow.

The flesh at the cap is tender, soft, at the stem it is hard, yellowish with a pleasant mushroom smell in young specimens. The taste of the hats is slightly sweetish, spicy.

The plates are sparse, wide, wavy, weakly adhering to the stem, with short bridges, free, yellowish-white, notched-toothed. Variability. The hat becomes flat with time and a spot of a darker color appears in the center of the hat. After frost, the mirror-mucous surface becomes matte. The color of the plates varies from whitish to yellow. The stalk is solid at first, fibrous inside, later hollow. Cooking methods: only hats are used, they are pre-boiled, boiled, dried, salted, marinated.

Honey agaric winter light yellow

Habitats of winter light yellow honey agaric (Flammulina velutipes, f. pallidus): on stumps and dead trunks of deciduous and coniferous trees, as well as on living trees, especially on larch, spruce and some deciduous aspen trees, withstand frost. After frost, the mucous-mirror surface becomes matte, but remains light.

Season: they appear in October - November and then remain frozen under snow until spring, they are able to multiply (throw out spores) in the thaw in winter.

The cap is 2-7 cm in diameter, sometimes up to 10 cm, at first rounded-convex with edges turned down, then flat-convex with a slight bend of the edges downwards with a smooth surface, smooth. A distinctive feature of the species is the muco-mirror, smooth, light yellowish surface of the cap, sometimes with a slight brown tint in the middle.

Leg 3-8 cm high, 4-9 mm thick, cylindrical, dense, elastic, often curved. The second distinguishing feature of the species is the color of the stem: light, yellowish or yellowish-reddish in the upper part, brownish in the lower part and later black-brown.

The flesh at the cap is tender, soft, at the stem it is hard, yellowish, with a pleasant mushroom smell. The taste is not as spicy and sour as that of autumn mushrooms, but slightly sweet, spicy.

The plates are sparse, wide, wavy, weakly adhering to the stem, later free, yellowish-white, notched-toothed.

Variability. The cap becomes flat with time and a darker yellow spot appears in the center of the cap. The color of the plates varies from whitish to cream. The stalk is solid at first, fibrous inside, later hollow.

Cooking methods: only hats are used, they are pre-boiled, they are boiled, dried, marinated.

These photos show mushrooms growing in winter:

Photo gallery

Useful properties of winter mushrooms

Winter mushrooms, or flammulins, have exceptional, most powerful medicinal properties, preventing the reproduction of cancer cells, as well as lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood and slowing down the development of atherosclerosis.

In any organism, cells are reborn and cancer cells are formed. The body produces a special enzyme - perforin, which tracks them and destroys them. After a person reaches the age of about 40 years, the efficiency of perforin production decreases and the likelihood of the formation of cancer cells increases. In cases where perforin ceases to be produced, cancer cells begin to divide intensively. In 1963, a high-molecular substance with an antitumor effect on Ehrlich cancer cells was isolated, which is a water-soluble polysaccharide called "flammulin" - from the name of the winter honey agaric Flammulina velutipes. Lentinan was isolated from the polysaccharide, which just affects the production of perforin, increasing its amount many times over.

The result is powerful push the body's fight against the division of cancer cells! It follows from this that the intake of water or alcohol infusion of mushrooms only once a year maintains the production of perforin at the proper level, and this does not allow cancer cells to multiply. Honey mushrooms in any other form are also useful for the production of perforin. However, it should be borne in mind that with prolonged heat treatment, these useful properties are sharply reduced. Therefore, salted and dried mushrooms are most suitable for these purposes, which are not subjected to heat treatment, or canned and pickled with a short cooking time - no more than 5-7 minutes.

From here, the well-known expression from Japanese literature becomes clear that if you consume 50-100 g of mushrooms every day, then there will never be cancer.

In this case, we are talking about the use of salted mushrooms or dishes from dried and canned mushrooms with a short cooking time and without thermal exposure.

Winter mushrooms began to be intensively harvested in Russia only in the last 15-20 years after their appearance on the market and in stores of enoque mushrooms, which have the same Latin name, but due to artificial breeding, have a different appearance. Enoke, or winter mushrooms, are brought from the countries of Southeast Asia, where they are artificially grown and have been known for over 1000 years. In Russia, they began to be grown in the Far East. There are unusually beautiful mirror-mucous, mother-of-pearl-orange forms of winter mushrooms.

In Russia, these mushrooms are called so because they remain on tree trunks all winter until spring and have unique ability throw out spores and thus multiply during periods of thaw. In Japan, these mushrooms are bred on sawdust, and they are famous for their healing properties. By the strength of the antitumor effect, they rank first among all mushrooms and other drugs. The creation of appropriate preparations based on them and increased propaganda in the media focused on these mushrooms and contributed to the creation of a wave of mushroom pickers for winter mushrooms.

Winter mushrooms on a high rotting trunk grow mainly on the south side and therefore can serve as a kind of compass.

Cosmetics are made from winter mushrooms.

Useful properties of winter mushrooms:

this species has the positive property of low accumulation of heavy metals;
according to the results of studies conducted at Moscow State University, they belong to the first group of fungi that accumulate harmful substances the least;
they are used to make medicines and cosmetics, according to research by Japanese scientists, winter mushrooms, or flammulin, have exceptional, most powerful healing properties that prevent the reproduction of cancer cells, as well as lower blood cholesterol levels and slow down the development of atherosclerosis;
the content of protein and amino acids (28-33%) exceeds berries, fruits and vegetables;
content minerals and trace elements (phosphorus, potassium, zinc, iodine, manganese, copper) are superior to vegetables and comparable to milk and beef;
contain all the useful substances necessary for the healthy development of a person at any age.

Thus, novice mushroom pickers are not recommended to collect winter mushrooms in the autumn due to the presence of similar poisonous species gallerines and hymnopiles. Only in winter these poisonous twins are absent. This property makes the winter gathering of winter mushrooms exceptionally safe and interesting.

Winter mushrooms or velvety-legged flammulina (Flammulina velutires) is an edible variety of mushrooms. They belong to the Ryadovkov family and grow almost everywhere in our country.

Winter mushrooms belong to the Ryadovkov family and grow almost everywhere in our country.

The winter fungus forms a hat-legged fruiting body, central or slightly eccentric. The hat is convex or flat in shape, yellow-golden, honey-golden-brown or yellowish-orange-brown. The cap edges, as a rule, have a lighter color than the central part.

Edible mushrooms have thin flesh, whitish, beige-yellow or light yellow color, with a pleasant and quite pronounced mushroom flavor. The stem is of a tubular type, rather dense, with a very characteristic velvety golden brown or yellowish-beige-brown coloration, without the remains of a veil. Plates of an adherent type, rare arrangement, sometimes shortened, whitish or ocher in color. Spores are whitish in color, ellipsoidal or cylindrical in shape.

Gallery: winter mushrooms (25 photos)

When to collect winter mushrooms (video)

Where does winter honey mushroom grow?

Fruiting is dense, in whole groups or so-called aggregations. The variety is widely distributed in regions with temperate climate. Fruiting bodies are very actively formed from the beginning or middle of autumn until the onset of spring. Fruiting is observed during the thaw period in winter.

Among other things, winter mushrooms are cultivated in many countries, including Japan and Korea. When grown on an industrial scale, a special, well-moistened wood or a section of wheat straw is used as a nutrient substrate. Harvesting with artificial cultivation is carried out almost all year round, and world production figures reach one hundred thousand tons annually.

With the onset of autumn, it is time to collect winter mushrooms. With sufficient temperatures and elevated level moisture, the fruiting bodies of this edible variety grow and develop rapidly. A winter mushroom can be found not only in deciduous, but also in mixed forest zones. It is desirable to go in search of mushrooms in fairly mature deciduous forests, where fruiting bodies are actively formed on stumps and trunks of the so-called deadwood, as well as on living deciduous wood.

When collecting, you need to remember that in addition to edible varieties, a mushroom picker may encounter false and poisonous mushrooms in the forest, therefore It is very important to pay attention to the following distinctive features:

false mushrooms are most often found on the soil and under leaf litter;
the cap of the false mushroom always has a very bright coloration in bright red and greenish-gray tones;
the coloration of the plates on the inside of the cap is darker and more pronounced.

With the onset of autumn, it's time to collect winter mushrooms

Chief and sure sign- the presence of a very characteristic ring of a leathery type, located on the leg, directly under the cap. False mushrooms necessarily have fragmentary parts of such a poorly visible and uneven ring. Among other things, the hat and leg of real mushrooms are always covered with fairly pronounced scales, which are completely absent in all false varieties.

To carry out, you need to carefully cut off the leg with a knife or carefully twisting the fruiting body from the mycelium. The second method is more preferable, as it minimizes the risk of penetration of a pathogenic infection into the mycelium through a cut on the stem of the fungus. All connoisseurs of "quiet hunting" must follow a number of rules:

only familiar edible species are subject to collection, and the presence of the slightest doubt in the knowledge of the fungus is a reason to refuse to collect it;
it is impossible to collect overgrown, rotten, wormy or too old mushrooms, as well as too young, not fully ripened fruiting bodies;
you need to collect the winter mushroom in a basket that will provide the fruiting bodies with sufficient ventilation and long-term preservation;
winter mushroom is placed in a basket with a hat down or slightly sideways.

Important to remember, what harvested mushrooms you need to deliver it home as soon as possible, sort it out and process it, which will avoid rotting mushrooms and getting poisoned from eating mushroom dishes.

Features of winter mushrooms (video)

The composition and useful properties of winter mushrooms

The presence in the mushroom pulp of a whole complex of biologically active substances, vitamins and minerals, winter mushrooms have the following useful properties:

strengthening the immune system;
improvement of elasticity and condition of the vascular wall;
destruction of pathogenic microflora and getting rid of inflammatory processes;
normalization of the work of the heart and vascular system;
lowering the level of cholesterol in the blood;
lowering blood sugar levels;
restoration of intestinal beneficial microflora.

For medicinal purposes, mushroom infusions, tinctures and decoctions are used. Among other things, the winter mushroom is a very effective and affordable remedy for combating impotence and is widely used in the prevention of many ailments.

Winter fungus can be found not only in deciduous, but also in mixed forest zones.

False twins of winter mushrooms

There are several false twins of the false fungus, which inexperienced connoisseurs of "silent hunting" may take for a tasty and healthy variety:

gray lamellar autumn false foam it is distinguished by a convex pale yellow or brownish-rusty hat, the lower part of which is covered with a characteristic veil. The superficial skin is smooth and sufficiently moist or sticky;
brick red false honey agaric, growing in large groups and characterized by a very characteristic spherical or hemispherical cap shape with a smooth and dry, reddish-orange-brick surface. The plates have a yellowish, olive or dark chocolate color. The leg is hollow, reddish-brick, thin and curved.

A less common variety is false poisonous sulfur-yellow mushrooms, which are distinguished by hats with curved edges and the presence of a cobweb layer on the underside. Among other things, it must be remembered that the plates are yellowish, greenish-olive or olive-brown-black in color, and in edible species the plates have a cream or yellowish-white color. You should also take into account the fact that the pulp of inedible false varieties has a very unpleasant and earthy smell.