Autumn stitch (Gyromitra infula) photo and description

Autumn line (Gyromitra infula)

• Autumn vane
• Infull-like lobe
• Helwella infull-like
• Stitch horned

Autumn line is directly related to the genus lopatnikov (or Gelwell). It is considered the most common of all this genus of lobes (or gelwells). And this mushroom received the pseudonym “autumn” because of its peculiarity to grow in late summer – early autumn, unlike its fellow tribesmen, “spring” lines (ordinary line, giant line), which grow in early spring. And he still has a difference from them – the autumn line contains a much larger amount of poisons and toxins.

The autumn line refers to marsupial mushrooms.

head: usually up to 10 cm wide, folded, brown, becoming brownish-blackish with age, with a velvety surface. The shape of the cap is horn-shaped-saddle-shaped (more often found in the form of three fused horns), the edges of the cap grow together with the stem. Hat line autumn folded, irregular and incomprehensible shape. The color of the cap is from light brown in young mushrooms to brown-black in adults, with a velvety surface.

Leg: 3-10 cm long, up to 1,5 cm wide, hollow, often laterally flattened, color can vary from whitish to brownish-grayish.

Its leg is cylindrical, thickened downwards and hollow inside, waxy-white-gray in color.

Pulp: fragile, cartilaginous, thin, whitish, resembles wax, without much odor, very similar to the pulp of related species, such as the ordinary line, which grows in early spring.

Habitat: The autumn line occurs singly from July, but active growth starts from the end of August. Often found in small groups of 4-7 specimens in coniferous and deciduous forests on the soil, as well as on the remains of decaying wood.

The autumn line likes to grow either in coniferous or deciduous forests, sometimes singly, sometimes in small families and, preferably, on or near rotting wood. It can be found throughout the temperate zone of Europe and Our Country. Its main fruiting period is at the end of July and lasts until the end of September.

Edibility: Although the lines of the autumn and find it possible to eat, it is worth noting that, like the line of the ordinary in its raw form, it is deadly poisonous. Incorrectly prepared, it can cause very serious poisoning. You can not eat it often, as the toxins contained in it have cumulative properties and can accumulate in the body.

A conditionally edible mushroom, category 4, is used as food after boiling (15-20 minutes, the water is drained) or drying. Deadly poisonous when raw.

The line is autumn, some primary sources even consider it a deadly poisonous mushroom. But this is not, at all, and cases of poisoning with a fatal outcome by autumn lines, so far, have not been registered. And the degree of poisoning by them, as well as by all mushrooms of this family, strongly depends on the amount and frequency of their use. Therefore, it is highly undesirable to use the autumn line for food, otherwise you can get serious food poisoning with very, very sad consequences. Because of this, the autumn line is referred to as inedible mushrooms. Science knows that the toxicity of the lines is largely due to temperature and climate indicators and directly depends on the places where they grow. And the warmer the climatic conditions are, the more poisonous these mushrooms will become. That’s why, in the countries of Western and Eastern Europe, with their warm climate, absolutely all the lines belong to poisonous mushrooms, and in Our Country, with its much colder climate, only autumn lines are considered inedible, which, unlike the lines of “spring” (ordinary and giant), growing early in spring, begin their active development and maturation after a period of warm summer, on warm soil and, therefore, manage to collect a sufficiently large number of dangerous, poisonous substances in themselves so that they can be considered unsuitable for consumption in food.