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Bear sawfly is an inedible mushroom of the Auriscalpiaceae family, genus Lentinellus. Difficult to recognize, it cannot be distinguished from some similar species without a microscope. Another name is Bear Lentinellus.
What does a bear sawfly look like?
Fruiting bodies are shell-shaped hats without legs. They grow on wood, growing together in several pieces.
Cap Description
Size in diameter – up to 10 cm, shape – from kidney-shaped to semicircular. Young mushrooms have convex caps, while old mushrooms have flat or concave caps. They are pale brown, sometimes faded along the edge. When dried, the color becomes brown with a wine reddish-brown tint. On the entire surface whitish, gradually darkening pubescence, at the base it is more abundant. The edge of the cap is sharp, wrapped when dry.
The flesh is hard-fleshy, its thickness is about 0,5 cm. The color varies from light cream or cream to gray-red. The smell is sour, unpleasant, weakly expressed, in some sources it is described as spicy.
The plates are frequent, thin, radially diverging from the place of attachment to the substrate. In a fresh specimen, white, cream or pinkish, waxy, fleshy. When dried, they are pale brown, with jagged edges.
Spore powder is creamy white.
Description of the leg
The leg is completely missing.
Where and how to grow
Bear sawfly grows on deadwood of deciduous trees, less often on coniferous wood.
Fruiting from August to mid-October.
Distributed throughout Our Country, in Europe, in North America.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
It is inedible, but is not considered poisonous. It should not be eaten because of the pungent bitter taste.
Twins and their differences
Inexperienced mushroom pickers may confuse bear sawfly with edible oyster mushrooms. The main differences are an unpleasant sour smell and jagged edges of the plates.
Especially close to the bear’s lentinellus is the wolf’s sawfly – inedible, but not poisonous, with a bitter taste and a pronounced mushroom smell. In adult specimens, the surface of the fruiting body is whitish-brown, yellowish-reddish, dark fawn. The shape of the cap is kidney-shaped at the beginning, then gradually becomes ear-shaped, tongue-shaped or shell-shaped. Its edge is wrapped inside. A brown or almost black dense stem 1 cm high may be present. The plates are wide, frequent, descending with an uneven edge. At first they are whitish or light beige, then they acquire a reddish tint. Wolf’s sawfly can be distinguished by a rudimentary short stalk, but sometimes it is absent or difficult to see. An experienced mushroom picker can notice the difference in the color of the cap and its edge. Another feature that can only be detected under a microscope is the larger spores of the wolfsaw and the absence of an amyloid reaction on the hyphae.
Beaver sawfly is another related species. Its fruit bodies are pedicel-like, yellow-brown, tiled. The plates are radially arranged, frequent, light beige, chipped, with wavy or curved edges. This fungus grows mainly on fallen coniferous trees in late summer and autumn. Inedible, with a pungent taste. It differs from the bear’s in larger fruiting bodies, on which there is practically no pubescence.
Conclusion
Bear sawfly is an inedible mushroom that grows on dead wood and is difficult to distinguish from its relatives. Particularly close to it are such species as wolf and beaver.