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A bright unusual mushroom, pink-red saucer (popular name), is rarely found in the forests of central Our Country. Orange pepper or aleuria is a scientific term, in Latin it sounds like Peziza aurantia or Aleuria aurantia. This species is related to morels, they refer it to the Ascomycetes department.
What does orange pepper look like
The fruit body is bright, smooth, cup-shaped, with uneven wavy edges. The color of the upper surface is bright, yellow-hot, orange reddish. From below the fruiting body is whitish, slightly pubescent. Old aleuria become flatter, in the form of a saucer, coalesce with each other. The diameter of the fruiting body does not exceed 4 cm, it is rare to find a saucer up to 8 cm in diameter.
His leg is missing, he sits tightly in the ground. The pulp of young aleuria is thin, fragile, tender. Smell and taste are weakly expressed.
Spore powder and white spores.
Where and how to grow
Orange pepper is common in the northern part of Our Country, in regions with a temperate climate. You can find it in deciduous and mixed forests, along roadsides, in parks in well-lit glades. Prefers loose soil. There is orange pepper on the plain and at the foot of the mountains.
A rose-red saucer grows in a large family. The fruiting bodies are so close to each other that they subsequently coalesce into a large, undulating, orange-colored mass.
Fruiting alevria lasts from early June to early October only in rainy and humid weather. In a hot dry summer, a saucer is completely difficult to find. In shaded places, aleuria fades, becomes pale.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
Orange pepper is a safe for humans, conditionally edible plant gift of the forest. It can even be consumed raw. In cooking, it is used as a spectacular decoration for various dishes and even desserts.
Dried and crushed peppers are used as food coloring.
Twins and their differences
Sarcoscif scarlet or elf bowl – an unusual bright twin of orange pepper. This is an edible mushroom, the color of which is more scarlet, the fruiting body is designed in the form of a bowl, not a saucer, the edges are even, the cap is attached to a thin, short stem.
Melastica hair – a poisonous mushroom, a twin of orange pepper. The fruit body of the inedible species is more red, the edges of the cap are covered with a dark fluff. Hair melastica is slightly smaller than the saucer.
Thyroid Discina – an edible mushroom, one of the varieties of pezia. The color of the double is darker, brown or beige. The cap is uneven, its surface is rough.
Conclusion
Orange pepper is a beautiful, bright, conditionally edible mushroom that is hard to miss. It is used in food even in its raw form, in the form of decorations for salads. The edibility of the saucer is relative. It is important to remember that only young mushrooms are considered absolutely safe, old flat and fused mushrooms are not recommended to be eaten.