Mushrooms are beautiful original representatives of the kingdom of wildlife, differing from each other in color, shape of the cap and even taste. Their appearance is simple and ornate, original and caricatured. Probably every mushroom picker at least once in his life has admired the elegance and grace of these protein treats.
Have you ever come across an orange mushroom? If so, then you probably noticed its bright cheerful color and thought - is it edible? This article will be devoted to this organism. What is an orange mushroom? Where does it grow? Can it be eaten? Moreover, a little lower we will analyze another, no less important question: "How to distinguish edible mushrooms from inedible ones, so as not to get confused and not make a fatal mistake?".
Varieties
First of all, it should be mentioned that neither in biology nor in botany there is a separate family or species called "orange mushroom". When we meet representatives of this color in the forest, we are talking only about the diversity of the individual color, and not about the collective name.specific subspecies. What varieties of mushrooms have a bright, rich orange color? Let's briefly get acquainted with some specimens of mushroom families and find out the conditions for their growth.
Boletus and its description
The most common orange mushroom is the boletus. This family is considered completely edible and combines many subspecies. First of all, it is a red, yellow-brown and oak boletus. It is their hats that have a bright, rich orange color.
Red boletus (also called redhead, or krasyuk) has a very tasty fleshy white pulp. The hat of this species can reach thirty centimeters in diameter, but often the dimensions vary from four to fifteen centimeters. The color of the cap of this large orange mushroom is most often dominated by red or reddish hues. It is worth mentioning here that the color depends on the growing conditions. For example, in forests dominated by aspen trees, the mushroom cap has dark red hues. If poplars are more common, then the cap becomes slightly grayish, but if the forests are mixed, then orange or yellow-red.
Gray scaly legs of the mushroom, expanding towards the bottom, also have different lengths (from five to fifteen centimeters) and thickness (from one and a half to five centimeters). The red boletus is not capricious in relation to the trees with which it enters into a natural symbiosis. They can be oaks, birches, beeches, hornbeams and, of course, aspens and poplars. Mushroom growing seasonJune to October. Most often it can be found under young trees, in damp aspen forests and even along roads. Delicious redhead in any preparation. However, many recommend removing its legs, as they are rather harsh in taste and difficult to digest in the human gastrointestinal tract.
Yellow-brown boletus is another variety of orange mushroom. Its hemispherical cap with a diameter of five to fifteen centimeters can sometimes reach 25 cm. It has a dry, rough skin that is orange or yellow-brown in color. The white dense pulp of the fungus begins to turn blue when cut. The leg of the yellow-brown boletus can be very thick (2-4 cm in diameter, sometimes up to seven centimeters). Its length is also varied and depends on the parameters of the entire specimen: from eight to fifteen centimeters and above. The yellow-brown boletus prefers to create mycorrhiza with birch. He likes to grow in mixed forests and pine forests. Harvest season: from June to September, sometimes until November.
Oak redhead (or obabok) is an orange mushroom that grows in the north of our country. It forms symbiotic associations with oaks, beginning to appear from mid-summer until late autumn. The hemispherical hat of an oak tree in diameter can vary between eight and fifteen centimeters. Usually its skin has a chestnut color with an orange tint. The flesh is white, has brownish-gray streaks, may turn black on the cut. Cylindrical leg of the mushroom 10-15 cm high and2-3 cm thick, has small scales and can thicken at the base.
Such common mushrooms
Ryzhik is another variety of orange mushroom. They are distinguished by a bright orange, even red color. They are highly valued for their taste, some subspecies are even considered delicacy. Mushrooms owe their color to a substance such as beta-carotene, which is converted into useful trace elements (group B vitamins, ascorbic acid, vitamin A).
Also, this family is rich in mineral s alts of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium and even calcium. Moreover, these mushrooms contain a natural antibiotic - lactrioviolin, which is used in inflammatory diseases and is used in complex therapy in the treatment of tuberculosis. Let's talk about some of these edible orange mushrooms.
Real ginger
Sometimes it is also called delicacy milker. It belongs to agaric mushrooms, completely colored orange. A smooth and shiny hat of this species in diameter can reach from 4 to 18 centimeters. Its surface, which has brown spots, is sticky and unpleasant to the touch in wet weather. Frequent and thin plates, orange, like the whole mushroom, can turn slightly green when pressed.
The leg of a real camelina is low (up to seven centimeters) and thin (two centimeters in diameter), can be covered with a soft light fluff. The dense pulp also has an orange color, turning green when broken. Milky delicacy oftenfound in pine or spruce forest, where it hides in dense grass or among moss. Growing season: July to October.
Spruce Ginger
This is a mushroom with an orange hat from the Russula family. Its cylindrical leg (three to seven centimeters high and one centimeter thick) is rather brittle and hollow inside. Orange flesh, turning green when broken, has a fruity aroma and taste. The small orange hat of the plant has a diameter of four to eight centimeters. The plates, descending and frequent, are slightly lighter than the cap itself. The color of the mushroom itself can vary between pale pink and dark orange. Spruce mushrooms grow from summer to autumn in spruce forests, hiding in natural litter covered with needles.
Red mushrooms
This is another variety of agaric. The hat is orange in color, dense and fleshy to the touch, varies in diameter from five to fifteen centimeters. The pulp of the mushroom has a white color, on which dark red spots are randomly located. At a break, the pulp secretes a thick, bloody-scarlet juice. Frequent and thin plates, placed under the bottom of the cap, descend deeply along the stem of the camelina. The leg itself is small, about four to six centimeters high, tapering towards the bottom. It is covered with bloom and furrowed with red pits. The color of the legs is different: orange, pink and even purple. This type of mushroom is not common in Russia, most often grows in coniferous forests of mountainous slopes.
Japanese mushrooms
These mushrooms are found in the valleys of Primorsky Krai under high-growing firtrees. Hats of this species, six to eight centimeters in diameter, are decorated with all sorts of ocher colors, while the plates have brighter, more saturated colors of orange hues. The stem of the mushroom (five to eight centimeters high and one to two centimeters thick) is often hollow inside and brittle, and also has a bright orange color.
Small varieties
Bear ears (or scarlet sarcoscif) are small orange mushrooms that are common throughout the world, but rarely used in folk cooking. The pulp of these mushrooms is very elastic, but edible, especially tasty after frying in a heated pan. Hats of this species, up to five centimeters in diameter, usually have an orange-scarlet color. Mushrooms grow on felled tree trunks covered with a layer of soil or dry foliage. Appear in the cool season (early spring or even winter).
Another type of small mushrooms is orange aleuria, distinguished by its unusual appearance. The fruit body of the fungus is saucer-shaped, diverse in shape and size. In height, these representatives of eukaryotes usually do not exceed five centimeters. This small, bright orange mushroom has a thin cartilaginous pulp, pleasant in taste and aroma, as well as a short, slightly pronounced leg. Aleuria orange grows in a variety of forest stands, can even be found in parks, on lawns and between stones. Grows in soil from summer to late autumn. You can use this mushroom in cooking after drying, for example, adding it to soups or stir-fry.
Unusual views
Among the natural variety of orange mushrooms, specimens of non-standard shape are also distinguished. First of all, it is an orange hornet and a sulfur yellow tinder fungus. Horned has a thin, club-shaped body, slightly oblong and pleasant to the taste. It grows from the end of summer until cold weather, loves dry open places and glades. Trutovik, on the contrary, appears in May and bears fruit until September. This representative of wildlife is conditionally edible, as it can cause some toxic reactions. The fungus is a parasite that infects trees such as poplar, pine, oak, willow, birch, chestnut, walnut.
Its fruiting body is heterogeneous, up to seven centimeters thick and cap size from ten to forty centimeters. It can weigh up to nine kilograms. The pulp of the mushroom is soft and juicy, sour in taste, with an unusual lemon smell. However, if the tinder fungus ages, then its nutritional and aromatic qualities quickly deteriorate. Young mushrooms are used boiled and fried, for pickling and as a filling for pies. After drying, they become brittle, fibrous and very light, and can be stored frozen for a long time. If the mushroom is old or grows on conifers, then it cannot be eaten, as it can cause all kinds of allergic reactions and poisoning.
Chanterelles
Chanterelles are a whole family of mushrooms with an orange stem and the same hat. Not all of them are edible, as it might seem at first glance. Delicious and nutritious arenames of mushrooms: velvety chanterelle, faceted chanterelle and yellow blackberry.
The hat of the velvety chanterelle is small, about four to five centimeters. The leg is also small, measuring two to three centimeters. Orange flesh is tender and slightly sour in taste. The fungus settles in acidic soil, mainly among deciduous plantations.
The faceted chanterelle is a very beautiful representative of wildlife, with a fibrous fruiting body ranging in size from three to ten centimeters. Forms mycorrhiza with oak, grows from June to October. Poisonous chanterelles include such species as the false chanterelle and the olive omphalot, which is quite rare, mainly in the Crimea.
Poisonous
False chanterelle is an inedible orange mushroom that looks like chanterelles. Its other name is the orange talker. The govorushka differs from its edible counterparts in the red-orange shade of the cap and almost even edges, as well as an unpleasant odor. The cap of the mushroom varies between two and six centimeters in diameter, and the stem, usually very short, rarely reaches four centimeters. Nevertheless, the false chanterelle is considered a conditionally inedible product, as it is successfully used in cooking in other countries after a long and thorough heat treatment.
Orange-red cobweb is another type of poisonous mushroom that is considered deadly. The hemispherical cap of the cobweb in the very center has a small tubercle, and the leg, small in height, tapers toground.
So, we briefly reviewed the description of different mushrooms with orange colors. Now let's briefly discuss how to distinguish an edible mushroom from an inedible one.
Mushroom pickers note
- First of all, mushrooms that cannot be eaten are distinguished by the fact that when cut, their flesh turns into an unnatural color and emits an unpleasant odor (offensive or medicinal). Sometimes the caps of these varieties have a sticky coating.
- Also take a closer look at the appearance of the mushroom: if it does not have insects or worms inside or outside, then it is most likely a poisonous mushroom. Moreover, the absence of a tubular layer placed under the cap also indicates the inedibility of many species.
- And the most important rule: don't taste the mushrooms! If in doubt, don't cut. Go mushroom hunting only with knowledgeable people. Do not collect everything, hoping to sort at home.
If all the above recommendations are followed, then you will definitely please yourself and your loved ones with delicious and fragrant orange mushrooms.
