The violin fungus is called that way because the specimens collected in a bucket or basket produce a creak when interacting with each other. Other names for this macromycete: violinist, violinist, felt breast, euphorbia. The latter was given to him because of the presence of caustic milky juice, due to which the violin mushroom is conditionally edible. He is assigned the 4th category. The fiddle can be eaten only in fermented and salted form. However, before salting, you first need to soak it to remove caustic juice. Although the mushroom is rather mediocre in taste, folk craftsmen process the milker so competently that it can be very difficult to distinguish it from a real loaf on a plate .
Squeaky mushrooms in a salty form turn white with a slightly bluish tinge. They are very strong, smell of lumps and creak a little on the teeth when eating. The violinist can be easily confused with a pepper load or a white load. However, the fungus differs from the latter by the presence of caustic milky juice. Compared to the peppers, the violin has a thin felt surface, as well as rarer plates. The lactor also lacks a fringe bent to the bottom of the cap.
Distribution and habitat
Insects rarely spoil felt breasts. They are distributed throughout the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. The violin mushroom is most commonly found in mixed and deciduous forests. As a rule, it can be found under birch trees, in oak, aspen and beech groves from July to mid-October. The fiddler prefers places well-lit by sunlight, where there is a layer of moss and fallen leaves. As a rule, felt breasts grow in large communities (clearings), which consist of many specimens of different ages. In Russia, this fungus is most common in the middle lane.
Description
The leg and hat of the violinist are milky white or yellowish. The mushroom's plates are narrow, thick, sour cream. The hat of a violinist is dense and fleshy, reaching a diameter of 20 cm. In young mushrooms, it has a flat shape, but with age it becomes funnel-shaped. Visually, the violin player is very reminiscent of a breast. It is with him that the lactic is most often confused. The leg is round, up to 10 cm high, thin at the base, solid inside, diameter 3 cm. Its surface is matte, dry, in the tone of a hat, felt to the touch. The latter is one of the differences in which these mushrooms differentiate from pepper mushrooms. Photos of them can be found in this article.
The fiddle of the violinist is dense, stiff, thick, grayish, with a pungent and bitter taste and an unpleasant odor. Fault locations after contact with air change their original color to yellow. A drop of FeSO4 dyes the pulp in a creamy pink tone. The spore powder is whitish. From cuts and faults of the fungus, a significant amount of milky juice is released, which does not change its color in the air.
Interesting details
In the USSR, according to GOST, the violin was allowed to eat only in salt form after prolonged soaking (3 days) and boiling. And many authors of foreign directories and classifiers classify it as inedible.