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Autumn mushrooms begin their fruiting at the end of August. Throughout September and half of October, you can collect a large number of mushrooms, and it is this time that is the peak of collecting autumn mushrooms. Each year, depending on the climatic conditions, the fruiting waves of these mushrooms can be from 2 to 3. In addition, the peculiarity of autumn mushrooms is that they grow very quickly and profusely, however, they also disappear quickly. For lovers of “silent hunting” it is important not to miss the beginning of the collection of these fruiting bodies.
Autumn mushrooms grow almost throughout Our Country in deciduous and coniferous forests, which are more than 30 years old. About 200 species of trees are chosen as habitat for honey mushrooms, including rotten stumps, roots and fallen trunks. Mushroom pickers, knowing where to look for autumn mushrooms, can pick these mushrooms in the same places for 10-15 years in a row.
However, when collecting these fruiting bodies, you need to remember the precautions: the edible honey agaric has a poisonous counterpart – the autumn false honey agaric.
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How to distinguish normal autumn mushrooms from false sulfur yellow
Some normal autumn mushrooms and false twins are very similar. The false inedible relative of this honey agaric belongs to the genus Hyfoloma and Psatirella. Some are considered inedible, while others are completely poisonous. If you do not know which mushroom you are putting in the basket, it is better not to take risks and give up the idea of taking it with you. Therefore, before going to the forest for mushrooms, it is important to study the photo and description of false autumn mushrooms.
The sulfur-yellow false honey agaric is considered a poisonous mushroom, outwardly similar to autumn mushrooms.
Latin name: Hypholoma fasciculare.
Family: Strophariaceae.
Sort by: Hypholoma.
Synonyms: Agaricus fascicularis, Naematoloma fascicularis.
Hat: diameter from 2 to 7 cm, bell-shaped, in adulthood becomes prostrate with a yellow-brown or sulfur-yellow color. The edges of the cap are much lighter, and the center is almost red-brown. In this case, the difference between autumn mushrooms and false ones is clearly visible in the hat.
Leg: fibrous, smooth and hollow. The length is up to 10 cm, thickness up to 0,5 cm, light yellow hue.
Pulp: very bitter and has an unpleasant odour. The color of the pulp is whitish or light yellow.
Records: thin and frequent, adhering to the stem. At a young age they have a sulfur-yellow color, then they become greenish and even black-olive.
Edibility: poisonous mushroom.
Spread: grows in large colonies on old dying trees, rotten stumps of deciduous and coniferous trees. Often settles on lying trunks, broken branches and near roots.
Season total: the peak falls on the end of August and September.
Description and photos of false autumn mushrooms will help you identify these dangerous twins.
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What do the false autumn mushrooms of Psatirella Kandolly look like (with photos)
Another false honey agaric, which looks like an autumn real mushroom, is Psatirella Candoll’s false honey agaric.
Latin name: Psathyrella candolleana.
Family: Psatirellaceae.
Sort by: Psatirella.
Synonyms: Psathyra candolleanus, Agaricus candolleanus.
Hat: at a young age hemispherical, in mature age – bell-shaped. Then the cap opens and becomes almost flat with a tubercle in the middle. The hat is 3 to 9 cm in diameter with wavy edges that often crack. The top of the caps of young mushrooms are covered with small scales, which quickly disappear. The caps themselves dry out quickly and become very brittle. The color varies from yellow to creamy white or almost opaque.
Leg: up to 0,6, sometimes 0,8 cm thick, up to 10 cm high. It has a thickened base of white or cream color. The surface of the leg is smooth, fluffy under the cap with the remnants of a bedspread in the form of hanging flakes.
Pulp: fragile, white, thin, odorless and tasteless.
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Records: narrow, thick and adherent to the stem. Young specimens have a whitish color of the plates, which in the process of growth changes to violet-gray, and then turns into dark brown.
Edibility: poisonous mushroom, sometimes referred to as conditionally edible.
Spread: grows in large colonies on deciduous trees, on rotten stumps or on the ground near stumps and trunks.
Season total: from May to the end of October.
We offer to see how to distinguish false mushrooms from autumn thanks to the presented photo?
It is worth noting that false species of mushrooms grow in the same places as edible ones – these are damp deadwood, trunks of fallen trees, stumps and even living trees. Therefore, novice mushroom pickers can make a mistake and collect a false look. It is photographs of false autumn mushrooms that will help you to understand mushrooms well and know all the signs of these dangerous twins.
Often, false species of honey mushrooms are classified as conditionally edible fruiting bodies, only of poor quality. To prepare them, you need to have enough skills, but in this case, the safety of mushrooms has not been proven.
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What false autumn mushrooms look like – see the photo showing all the differences. And the main difference is the skirt ring on the stem of the mushroom, or rather its absence. Poisonous species of mushrooms do not have such a ring.
There are other differences that help you choose only real edible autumn mushrooms. For example, the smell: all false honey mushrooms have a mushroomy unpleasant odor. Caps of false mushrooms are always of brighter colors, which will indicate the toxicity of the carrier of this species. None of the false honey mushrooms have scales on their hats. In addition, the plates of such mushrooms are greenish or olive in color, smoothly turning to an almost black tint.
There is another difference – the bitter taste of the mushroom, although experts strongly recommend not to taste the mushrooms.
Comparing all the presented photos of autumn false and edible mushrooms, you can safely go to the forest for mushrooms. But even if you are still not sure about the edibility of the mushroom, do not take it into your basket.
Watch also a video on how to distinguish autumn mushrooms from false representatives:
