Today, about one hundred thousand species of mushrooms are known in nature. Many of them are dangerous to human life, but most of them need only the right approach to collecting and preparing.
To little-known and requiring sufficient experience of the mushroom picker are pusher mushrooms. Practically lacking in nutrients and having low palatability, they are rarely used for food, but nevertheless they are gathered by amateurs.
general characteristics
In Russia, pusher mushrooms have another name - “floats”. They belong to the fly agaric family and are characterized as conditionally edible. These mushrooms are often found both in coniferous forests and in deciduous - oak, birch and beech. And they are collected from July to October. Fresh fruiting bodies of these fungi contain betaine, which plays a significant role in the metabolic processes of the human body.
Pushers have a too fragile hat, which makes them unsuitable for transportation and contributes to rare collection.
Description of floats
In order to properly collect the pusher mushrooms, a photo and a description of their appearance are required to be studied. Especially for those who go to the forest for the first time. Indeed, the similarity of these mushrooms with fly agaric and pale toadstools can be detrimental to an inexperienced mushroom picker.
The pusher’s hat is bell-shaped, gradually turning into a round-shaped shape. Sometimes there is a wide tubercle on it. The diameter of the cap is from three to twelve centimeters. Its ribbed, furrowed edge indicates that the fungus belongs to the edible representatives of the genus.
The color of the hat of the float, depending on its varieties, can be of many color shades: ash gray, yellow-gray, lead gray with a bluish tint, white and even olive green. Gathering such gifts of nature, an experienced mushroom picker or an amateur should be firmly convinced that in front of him are edible mushrooms pushers.
A photo cannot always convey a variety of color shades, so it is very important to know all the details of their appearance.
The skin of these mushrooms is dry, covered with white flakes, which disappear over time. The pulp is white, tender, slightly sweet in taste, not having an expressive smell. The plates are light, elastic and wide enough.
The float has a fragile leg of white or off-white color. Its height is from 5 to 15 cm, and its thickness is from 0.8 to 2 cm. The lower part of the leg is hidden in a gray, brown or white Volvo.
Varieties of floats
Many mushroom pushers, photos and descriptions of which are very similar to each other, still belong to different species. The easiest way to distinguish them by Volvo. In a gray float, it is predominantly gray. The saffron, umbra yellow, large-Volvo and yellow-brown fungus have red-brown spots on it.
The snow-white float differs from its relatives in absolute whiteness. And only the center of his hat has a grayish or brown color.
The most famous and most collected among representatives of a kind is the pusher gray.
False mushrooms
Very often in a basket of mushroom pickers along with floats are poisonous pale grebes and fly agaric. How not to confuse pusher mushrooms with them? Photos and descriptions, false species of floats should be carefully studied to accurately determine them at all stages of development.
The main difference between pushers and poisonous relatives is the absence of a ring on the leg. A characteristic feature of representatives of the inedible genus is the presence of flakes on the hat and tuber. The legs of fly agarics and pale grebes are not too fragile, they do not have a wide rounded cavity, but they are crowned with warty belts.
The dangerous similarity of floats with poisonous mushrooms annually causes the poisoning of many people. Sometimes such cases result in deaths.
Cooking secrets
Can pusher mushrooms themselves cause poisoning? Photos and videos recording such cases, as well as eyewitness accounts, indicate that this happens not so rarely. And most often this happens due to improper cooking of mushrooms. Floats contain resinous substances, therefore, they can cause inflammation of the small intestine and stomach.
Nevertheless, pusher mushrooms are eaten in many countries of the world in boiled or fried form. For proper preparation, they must be thoroughly cleaned of dirty and damaged particles, and then rinse thoroughly. The cooking time of the mushrooms is at least fifty minutes. To salt or pickle floats, it is not necessary to soak or scald them additionally.
Most often, pushers use mushrooms for drying, as well as for preparing delicious light soups, pies, salads, snacks and main dishes.