There are wonderful forest dwellers created by nature and bringing a lot of joy to lovers of "quiet hunting". These are mushrooms. And some of the common and high-quality are the boletus.
The surest scientific name for this mushroom is aspen red. Although he has many local folk names, the most famous of which is the red-headed, or red mushroom. This name is associated with its main feature - a kind of hats. By the way, many people of aspen boletus do not know, although this mushroom has certain signs that do not allow it to be confused with other numerous representatives of the plant kingdom.
From this article you can find out what the named mushroom with a red hat represents, what signs and features it has, where and at what time it grows.
Some interesting information about mushrooms
Curious facts about mushrooms are based on a person’s knowledge of only a tenth of the properties of these amazing forest inhabitants:
- On average, each mushroom consists of approximately 90% water.
- There are flying species. These are biological microscopic species, which include, for example, mold that appears in such an easy way even on products.
- The mushroom picker grows at a speed of at least 10 centimeters in just 1 year.
- Only one specimen of pale toadstool contains such an amount of poison that can poison four people.
- There is evidence that on the territory of the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant, mushrooms grow perfectly, despite the high level of radiation.
And now let's dwell on one of the interesting edible specimens. Boletus, a photo and a description of which you can see in our article, is not in vain considered one of the
most delicious mushrooms.
Time and place of growth
The first boletus mushrooms appear in the month of June. Therefore, they are traditionally called "spikes" in some places (since rye begins to spike during this period). Undoubtedly, the first ceps and brown boletus can rightfully be attributed to them.
Most often, this mushroom is found with the name boletus redhead.
It grows mainly in mixed forests, and mycelium (mycorrhiza) is still mostly associated with aspen, so it is often found among them or nearby.
Also, they can often be found in young growth, in deciduous (especially birch) forests and in aspen shoots. In dry summers, boletus can grow in a more mature aspen tree. It is found (including red mushroom) even in coniferous forests (for example, in pine). You can find it on the forest edges and in the fields of abandoned, overgrown with trees and shrubs. Moreover, this fungus usually grows in groups.
In the world, the fungus is distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere (temperate zone). Boletus grows a lot in North America, Central Europe, and they are less common in the mountains of Southern Europe.
Boletus: photo and description
The taste of the mushroom does not depend on the color of the boletus. It is very pleasant in any form and rightfully takes 2nd place after the most famous porcini mushroom in terms of taste.
Boletus belongs to the genus Obabok, which is part of the family of boletus. All of them have a leg as if covered with scales of a darkish color, and this is very clearly visible. The well-known brown boletus have a similar property of legs.
The color of the hat is one of the most important, but by no means the only sign by which this mushroom differs from others. In addition, the red-headed is quite variable in its color. It does not always have a red color (red mushroom). Most often, boletus with brown hats are found in forests, moreover, they resemble porcini mushrooms. There are almost white and orange boletus in nature. The first are very rare and therefore are listed in the Red Book of Russia.
Red mushroom
Often in the people it is called a chubby, aspen, or baby ass. It should be noted that all types of boletus are edible and very similar and tasty. They are used in cooking, frying, pickling and soups.
A cap of red boletus in size can reach 30 centimeters in diameter. In shape, it is spherical in young mushrooms and pillow-shaped in more mature ones. The color of the latter varies from brick red to dark red.
Their tubular layer also varies with age: from white in young to gray-brown in mature mushrooms. The high leg of all thickens down. The mushroom flesh on the cut turns blue rather quickly and turns purple.
Distinctive features of boletus
The mushroom immediately darkens on a slice or break: first it turns blue and then becomes almost black. For many beginning mushroom pickers, this property is alarming and in vain. On the contrary, this is one of the main signs confirming that this is the same one - an edible mushroom with a red hat. And such a color change occurs in connection with the process of oxidation in air of some substances that are found in the boletus.
Of course, there are also mushrooms that possess the same properties characteristic for the boletus. Therefore, the mushroom should be judged by several distinguishing features.
Here are some typical boletus:
- red, reddish or brown hats;
- the tubular bottom layer of the cap is usually light gray in color;
- leg with prominent dark "scales";
- bluish, and then blackening slice.
Young and old mushrooms
A young red mushroom is very noticeable in the forest, but its peculiarity is that it is able to change its color depending on the vegetation prevailing in the forest, the age and type of the mushroom itself. More mature boletus have a gray-brown hat, which becomes less bright and more and more like a hat of a boletus.
Young mushrooms are also peculiar in shape. Their cap is neat, small, and on a large meaty leg looks like a thimble on a finger.
Both adults and young mushrooms are quite dense.
If suddenly when picking a mushroom is found to be soft to the touch, it is better not to take it to the basket. This is an overripe and unfit for food instance.
The main time for ripening boletus is August, less often September and October.
Mushrooms look beautiful with beautiful reddish-brownish or orange hats in a basket filled to the top with various edible mushrooms. They are nice not only to eat, but also to collect.