Contents
August champignon (popularly – spikelet) is a tasty and fragrant edible mushroom, which is most often found in coniferous forests from late summer to mid-autumn. This is the largest among all types of champignons. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find it. However, if you managed to stumble upon a place where such a mushroom grows, then, as a rule, it will not be alone – the mushroom picker may be lucky enough to fill half the basket at once. A photo and description of the August mushroom will not allow you to confuse it with poisonous counterparts, in particular, with red mushroom and pale grebe. You can cook this mushroom in various ways: boil, fry, stew, pickle, dry for future use and even eat raw. However, it is not recommended to get too carried away with dishes from it – it can contribute to the accumulation of heavy metal cadmium in the body.
What does august champignon look like
The cap of August champignon usually reaches 5 to 15 cm in diameter. In a young specimen, it is closed and has the shape of a hemisphere, but becomes prostrate with age. The color of the outer skin of the cap can be yellowish or golden. On its entire surface there are many matte brown or orange-brown scales. A tubercle is often visible in the center of the cap.
August champignon – the largest representative of the Champignon family
The spore-bearing layer is lamellar. As the fruiting body ages, it changes color from pinkish to dark brown. In young mushrooms, the plates are covered with a light film. Subsequently, it breaks, hanging in fragments from the edges of the cap and forming a large folded white ring with yellowish flakes on the stem.
The leg of August mushroom is usually long (5-10 cm) and about 2 cm thick. It is dense, white (but turns yellow when pressed), has a rough surface.
The pulp of the mushroom is fleshy, elastic. It is white, but at a break, oxidized in air, it becomes pink. The taste of the pulp is pleasant, spicy, mushroom. The aroma is slightly reminiscent of the smell of almonds or aniseed.
Briefly and informatively about this mushroom tells the video:
Where does the august mushroom grow?
August champignon prefers to grow under spruce trees in coniferous, less often in mixed forests, choosing clay soil rich in organic matter. It is often found near anthills. It occurs infrequently, but usually bears fruit in large groups. The season of its collection begins in August and lasts until the end of September and the beginning of October.
This mushroom prefers to grow under coniferous trees.
Is it possible to eat august champignon
August champignon is a good edible mushroom. According to taste and nutritional value, it belongs to category 3. It also has medicinal qualities – its composition is rich in vitamins A, C, PP, trace elements (phosphorus, potassium), as well as substances that have pronounced antimicrobial properties.
False doubles
The most dangerous of the mushrooms that can be confused with August champignon is death cap. It is extremely toxic – poisoning it is often fatal. Young toadstools and champignons have quite a lot of similarities: the shape and color of the caps, plates, the presence of rings on the legs. Therefore, it is important to always remember their main differences from each other:
- at the base of the pale toadstool there is always a volva – a thick “pouch” that has not grown at the roots, into which its leg is inserted, as it were;
- there are no scales on the cap of the toadstool;
- in August champignon, the color of the plates changes with aging, while in its poisonous “double” they always remain snow-white;
- when pressed and at a break in the surface, the pale grebe does not change color.
Pale toadstool poisoning is deadly
red champignon – another poisonous “double” of the August. It will help to distinguish such features:
- if you cut the leg of this mushroom at the base, it will instantly acquire a rich yellow color;
- its flesh smells strongly and unpleasantly (reminiscent of the smell of iodine or “carbolic acid”);
- the size of the poisonous “brother”, as a rule, is inferior to the August one.
Red champignon – a poisonous “double” of the August
Rules for collection and use
When going to the forest in the season for August champignons, you should keep in mind a few important rules:
- Only if there is an exact certainty that the mushroom is identified correctly, you can put it in your basket.
- Do not collect and eat old, wormy, too soft or rotten specimens.
- It is dangerous for health to go on a “silent hunt” in places located near industrial enterprises, factories, landfills, highways and sewage treatment plants. Mushrooms are known for their ability to actively absorb and accumulate harmful substances in fruiting bodies.
- In the process of collecting fruiting bodies, it is recommended not to pluck, but carefully cut with a knife in order to keep the mycelium intact.
Like other edible champignons, August mushrooms are versatile in culinary use. They are eaten raw, as well as cooked and stored for future use in almost any form.
Conclusion
A photo and description of the August champignon will certainly come in handy for a mushroom picker who gathers in a spruce forest during the season. It is important to know how to distinguish this edible mushroom from dangerous poisonous “doubles”, where to look and how to collect it correctly. August champignons are not easy to find, however, if you are lucky, you can cook many dishes from these tasty, fragrant and nutritious “gifts of the forest”. The main thing is not to forget about moderation in food so that these mushrooms benefit health, and do not harm it.