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The coral fungus, despite its name, is in no way related to marine mollusks. They only have a common form, and both of them grow in peculiar colonies, vaguely resembling a branched tree. There are quite a lot of mushrooms similar in shape to corals, and some of them can be found in forests in Our Country.
Features of coral-like mushrooms
The main feature of coral mushrooms is the structure of fruiting bodies. Their shape is not similar to the traditional one, they do not have a clearly defined hat and legs that ordinary representatives of the mushroom kingdom have. Instead, the fungus forms multiple outgrowths of various shapes and colors, making it similar to corals.
Coral mushrooms – a real miracle of nature
Where do coral mushrooms grow
Many coral fungi are saprophytes and parasitize on dead organic matter. Often they grow on fallen trees, branches, stumps, on fallen leaves. Coral mushrooms are distributed throughout the world. Their various species can be found in the Siberian taiga and the Far East, in the forests of the European part of Our Country, in the foothills of the Caucasus and on the islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Types of coral mushrooms
There are quite a lot of mushrooms similar to corals in their appearance. They are found on all continents and in almost all climatic zones. Below are brief reviews and photos of the most famous coral mushrooms.
The shell is coral-like
Coral hedgehog is a rather rare mushroom found mainly in the southern regions of Our Country, the Caucasus, the Southern Urals, southern Siberia and the Far East. It grows in deciduous forests from late August to early October, usually grows on stumps and fallen trees, preferring aspen or birch. In specialized literature, it has a different name – Hericium coral.
It grows in the form of a bush of numerous white sharp shoots, strongly resembling a real coral. Its spines are rather fragile and brittle. In a young specimen, the processes are white, with age they begin to turn yellow, and then turn brown. If you press on the fruiting body of the coral blackberry with your finger, then the flesh in this place will turn red. The mushroom has a pronounced pleasant aroma and is suitable for eating.
A description of this interesting coral mushroom can be viewed on the video:
Ramaria yellow
Ramaria yellow is most often found in the Caucasus, but individual specimens can sometimes be found in other areas, for example, in Central Europe. Most often, colonies of these coral fungi grow in large groups in coniferous and mixed forests on a litter of moss or fallen leaves.
The fruit body has thick fleshy stems, from which numerous yellowish horns protrude. When pressed, the flesh turns red. Ramaria yellow can be eaten. However, if numerous small yellow spores are showered from the fruiting body, leaving characteristic spots, then such a specimen is considered overripe. The smell of yellow ramaria is pleasant, reminiscent of the aroma of mowed grass.
Ramaria hard
This fungus in the form of a coral has several synonymous names:
- Ramaria straight.
- The horn is straight.
It can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from North America to the Far East. Most often, it grows in coniferous and mixed forests with a predominance of pine and spruce, parasitizing on dead wood and rotten stumps.
The fungus has a large fruiting body with numerous branches growing upward, almost parallel to each other. At the same time, their height does not exceed 5-6 cm. The color of the fruiting body has various colors, from yellow to dark brownish, sometimes with a lilac or violet tint. When mechanically damaged, the flesh becomes burgundy-red. The straight horn is not poisonous, has a pleasant aroma, but is not eaten because of the sharp bitter taste.
Ramaria is beautiful
Ramaria beautiful (beautiful horn) is found mainly in deciduous forests of the Northern Hemisphere. The colony of these coral-like mushrooms resembles a low, up to 0,2 m tall, bush. The young ramaria is beautifully colored pink, later the dense fleshy stem of the fruiting body turns white, and the numerous shoots become pinkish-yellow at the top and yellowish-white below.
The flesh of the mushroom turns red when broken. It does not have any pronounced smell, and it tastes bitter. This species is not eaten as it causes intestinal upset with all the signs of poisoning: pain and cramps in the stomach, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. At the same time, there were no fatal cases after eating beautiful ramaria.
Fucus tremella
Due to the very original appearance of the fucus tremella, it has a lot of synonyms:
- Trembling is white, or fusiform.
- Ice (snow, silver) mushroom.
- Snow (silver) ear.
- Jellyfish mushroom.
In Our Country, this coral-like species was found only in Primorsky Krai. Its main habitat is subtropics and tropics. Under natural conditions, Fucus tremella is found in Asia, Central America, and the Pacific Islands. Most often grows on fallen rotten trunks of deciduous trees.
Despite the jelly-like appearance, the consistency of the mushroom is quite dense. The fruit body is slightly whitish, almost transparent. Dimensions do not exceed 8 cm in width and 3-4 cm in height. Fucus tremella is edible, it is recommended to boil it for 7-10 minutes before use. At the same time, the volume of the fruiting body increases by about 4 times. The pulp is tasteless, has almost no aroma.
Clavulina wrinkled
Clavulina wrinkled occurs in natural conditions quite rarely, mainly in temperate latitudes. Prefers coniferous forests. It usually occurs in autumn, in September-October.
The fruiting bodies of wrinkled clavulina are uneven, slightly branched, white or cream-colored shoots elongated upwards, growing from a single, darker base. The pulp is almost odorless and tasteless. This mushroom is edible, after preliminary boiling for 10-15 minutes it can be eaten.
Feoclavulina fir
Feoclavulina fir is also called fir or spruce hornwort, or fir, or spruce ramaria. Found in many temperate regions. It grows under coniferous trees, on fallen needles.
The colony forms numerous, well-branched outgrowths, strongly resembling corals. The color of the fruiting bodies has various shades of green and yellow, olive, ocher. The flesh darkens when pressed and becomes greenish-blue. The spruce hornet smells of damp earth, and its flesh is sweetish with a bitter aftertaste. In various sources, the mushroom is indicated as inedible (due to that very bitter aftertaste) or conditionally edible, requiring preliminary boiling.
hornwort
The grape-shaped horn has another name – grape-shaped ramaria. Grows in mixed or coniferous forests, is quite rare. The fungus is a highly branched coral-shaped fruiting body with many thick processes. It can reach 15 cm in height and the same size in diameter. The fruit body is white; with age, the tips of the processes begin to turn ocher, pinkish or brown tones.
The pulp is white, brittle, watery, has a pleasant taste and aroma. At a young age, the hornwort can be eaten.
Clavulina combed
In specialized literature, this coral-like white mushroom can be found under the name coral clavulina or comb horn. It can be found in late summer or early autumn in temperate deciduous, coniferous, or mixed forests. There it usually grows on fallen leaves and needles, as well as on mosses in the neighborhood of birch, with which it often forms mycorrhiza.
The fruit bodies of the clavulina comb resemble bushes up to 10 cm high with pointed branches and flat scallops. At the base of the mushroom, one can sometimes distinguish a thick low leg. When young, the comb clavulina is completely white, becoming yellowish or creamy with age. This species is not eaten because of its bitter taste, although in some sources it is classified as conditionally edible.
Sparassis curly
This coral fungus has many other names: curly mushroom, mushroom cabbage, boron cabbage, hare cabbage. Its leg is deep in the ground, above the surface there is only an extensive curly yellowish waxy “cap”, consisting of many flat branched wavy scallops. The mass of the aerial part of the fungus can reach several kilograms.
This coral fungus is most often found under pine trees, with the roots of these trees it forms mycorrhiza. The pulp of curly sparassis has a good taste and aroma. You can eat this mushroom, it is quite edible and quite tasty, however, due to the structural features, it takes a long time to wash and clean it from debris stuck between the scallops. It is advisable to use young specimens for culinary purposes, since with age a noticeable bitterness appears in the taste.
Kalocera sticky
The fruit bodies of this coral fungus are thin single sprouts up to 5-6 cm long, pointed or forked at the end. Kalocera sticky grows from mid-summer to late autumn on old rotten coniferous wood. The sprouts are bright yellow, reminiscent of wax, with a sticky surface. The pulp does not have a pronounced color and smell, brittle, gelatinous.
There is no information about the edibility of sticky calocera, so it is considered inedible, so to speak, by default.
xylaria hypoxylone
In everyday life, xylaria hypoxylon is often called deer antlers because of the similarity in shape, and in English-speaking countries it is called a burnt wick, since the fungus has a characteristic ashy color. Fruit bodies are flattened, have several bent or twisted branches. A distinctive feature of this coral mushroom is a black velvety color, however, due to the many white spores, the fruiting body looks like ashen or sprinkled with flour.
This coral mushroom grows from late summer until frost in deciduous, less often coniferous forests, preferring rotten wood. The fruit bodies are dry and rather hard, so they are not eaten.
horn-shaped
The fruit bodies of the hornwort resemble bright yellow twigs sticking out of the ground, sometimes with orange tips. Often this fungus grows on rotten wood, litter of fallen branches and leaves, rotten stumps. You can find it from late summer to mid-autumn in mixed forests.
The flesh of this coral mushroom is brittle, has no pronounced color and smell. In various sources, the hornwort is indicated as conditionally edible or inedible. In any case, it has no nutritional value and is more interesting as a visual object.
Pale brown clavaria
The fruit bodies of the pale brown clavaria resemble the sprouts of a fantastic plant. They have a very beautiful color, from bluish to amethyst and purple. The fruit body of the fungus consists of many branches up to 15 cm long, growing from a massive base. Clavaria pale brown occurs from mid-summer to September inclusive, mainly in coniferous forests with oak inclusions.
In many countries, this species of mushrooms is classified as specially protected. It is not used for food.
Is it possible to eat coral mushrooms
Among the many coral mushrooms, there are both edible and inedible and even poisonous. Most of them do not represent significant nutritional value, with the exception of some that have a good taste and aroma. Some types of coral mushrooms are even grown artificially and are used not only in cooking, but also for medical purposes.
The benefits and harms of coral mushrooms
Like any forest mushrooms, many edible coral species contain many substances that are beneficial to human health. These are many different types of amino acids, vitamins A, B, D, E, trace elements. There are types of coral mushrooms, the cultivation of which is produced exclusively for medical purposes. This is a Fucus tremella, or snow fungus, used in traditional oriental medicine.
It is used in the treatment of the following diseases:
- Tuberculosis.
- Alzheimer’s disease.
- Hypertension.
- Gynecological diseases.
Fucus tremella has been artificially grown in China for over 100 years.
However, the use of coral mushrooms can also have negative consequences. It is not recommended to use them for women during pregnancy and lactation, and a contraindication is children under 3 years of age. Do not forget that mushrooms are a rather heavy food, and not every stomach can cope with them. Therefore, sometimes their use can cause intestinal disorders. There is also an individual intolerance to fungi, which is a feature of a particular organism.
Conclusion
Having found a coral mushroom in the forest, it is not always worth cutting it off. In wildlife, such species look very attractive, while the nutritional value of many of them is very doubtful. Do not forget that some coral mushrooms are protected objects and it is forbidden to collect them. Therefore, it is better to take a beautiful photo and limit yourself to this, and use other types for culinary purposes.