Contents
Black float is a conditionally edible mushroom of the Amanitaceae family, genus Amanita, subgenus Float. Known in literature as Amanita pachycolea and black pusher. On the Pacific coast of North America, where it was studied by mycologists, it is called the western grisette.
What does a black float look like?
The species is distributed on different continents, its representatives come out of the ground under a coverlet, Volvo. It is visible in an adult fungus as a shapeless bag enveloping the base of the leg. The fruiting body breaks the veil with a convex oval cap with a smooth, shiny skin, it looks like an egg.
Cap Description
The hat, as it grows, reaches 7-20 cm, becomes flat, with a small tubercle in the center. The skin of young specimens is sticky, the color is dark brown. At the beginning of growth it appears black, then it gradually brightens, especially the edges, which are clearly distinguished by dense parallel scars. So the plates are translucent through the thin pulp.
The skin is black, smooth, glossy, occasionally with white flakes, remnants of the bedspread. From below, the plates are free, not attached to the stem, located very often, white or white-gray. In old mushrooms, they have brown spots. The mass of spores is whitish.
The pulp is fragile, thin. On the cut, the original color remains, on the edge there may be a change in color to gray. The smell is almost imperceptible.
Description of the leg
The hat rises on a hollow or solid stem up to 10-20 cm in height, thickness is from 1,5 to 3 cm. The surface is smooth or slightly pubescent with small white scales, then becomes grayish or brown as it matures. The ring is missing. At the base of the leg is the bag-like lower part of the bedspread.
Where and how to grow
At present, the black species has been found only on the western coast of North America – in Canada and the USA. Although mycologists believe that the fungus can spread to other places over time.
Amanita muscaria creates mycorrhiza with coniferous trees, found in mixed and broad-leaved forests. The species was described in the 80s of the last century. Fruiting bodies grow singly or in small families, ripen from October to early winter.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
Since all representatives of the subgenus are considered conditionally edible and belong to the fourth category for nutritional properties, they are rarely collected. Even the gray floats common in Our Country are not often taken: the fruiting bodies are very fragile, and, once at the bottom of the basket, they turn into dust.
Twins and their differences
The black look is similar to the species common in European countries:
- gray float, or pusher;
- pale grebe.
Considering that the black float is now studied as an endemic of the North American continent, the mushrooms found on the territory of Our Country are somewhat different.
Bright differences between a black float and other types:
- dark color of the skin on the hat;
- the color of the pulp at the break does not change under the influence of air;
- the hat is framed with scars;
- on the North American continent, it bears fruit in autumn.
Twin Features:
- the gray pusher has a light gray skin on the cap;
- met in the forests of Our Country from mid-summer to September;
- the pale grebe has a whitish-yellow hat;
- there is a ring on the leg.
Conclusion
The black float can hardly be found in forests. And yet, it is better to know the signs of the fungus in advance, so as not to be confused with toxic counterparts.
