False boletus: photo and description, difference

The gall fungus, false white mushroom, or mustard, is also popularly known as “false boletus”. However, this name is not entirely true. The gall fungus and common boletus are rather distant relatives (only at the level of the general Boletov family), but outwardly they are very easy to confuse. Despite the fact that the false boletus is not poisonous, it is also inedible, since its flesh has a specific, very bitter taste. Even a few pieces of such a mushroom, once in a dish, can spoil it, and, if eaten, can cause indigestion.

When going to the forest for boletus, you should know how to identify and distinguish false twins from them so that prey from a “quiet hunt” does not spoil the pleasure and does not cause harm to health.

What mushrooms can be confused with boletus

In fact, boletus mushrooms are a group of several dozen species of mushrooms belonging to the genus Obabok, or Leccinum. All of them are edible and tasty. They are united by convex hats, which acquire a cushion shape with age, the color of which varies in a brown or gray-white palette of colors. The legs of the boletus are light, long, having a slight thickening in the lower part. Longitudinal scales are clearly visible on them – a characteristic pattern slightly reminiscent of the coloring of birch bark. Their flesh is light, colored uniformly and does not change its color at the break.

They look for boletus usually on clay and sandy soils, in deciduous forests and birch forests. They appear in abundance after rain. Often they can be found under poplars or aspens. It happens that aspen mushrooms, another group of species of the same genus Obabok, are mistaken for these mushrooms. This is not scary, since both are edible, but it still doesn’t hurt to know how they differ. So, the cap of the boletus is painted in red or orange tones, and the massive leg is evenly wide along the entire length. Its flesh is coarser and denser than that of the boletus, besides, it quickly turns blue at the fracture site.

The picking season for boletus begins at the end of June and lasts until the beginning of November.

At the same time, you can stumble upon false boletus mushrooms, also known as bile or bitter mushrooms. These “doubles” are not poisonous, but they can not be eaten. The main reason is the extremely bitter taste of their pulp, which only intensifies during any cooking process. If such a false boletus accidentally landed in a dish being prepared, the latter, unfortunately, will have to be thrown away. And if it so happened that a sample was nevertheless taken from the dish, it is worth taking measures to prevent a possible deterioration in well-being.

Photo and description of false boletus

In the photo below – false boletus, or gall fungus.

It is a tubular species of the genus Tilopilus. It is characterized by a hat from 4 to 10 cm in diameter, painted in bright yellow-brown, gray-ocher or brown colors. In a young specimen, it is convex, hemispherical in shape, while in an old one it can become flat or cushion-shaped, with a dry, most often velvety to the touch surface.

The leg of the false boletus is fibrous, massive, from 3 to 13 cm long and 1,5-3 cm thick. It has a characteristic swelling in the lower part, which is why the shape is a bit like a mace. The color of the stem is usually creamy ocher, yellowish or brown; a darker mesh is clearly visible on its surface.

The pulp of the gall fungus is white, practically odorless and very bitter in taste. At a break, it either does not change color at all, or blushes a little.

How to distinguish false boletus from edible

With all the external similarities at first glance, the false and edible boletus have a number of characteristic differences. There are a few key points to remember:

1. False boletus is almost never wormy. They do not have damage caused by insects.
2. The surface of the cap of this boletus is shiny, smooth. In the false, it feels like velvet to the touch.
3. The color of the skin on the surface of the cap in an edible specimen is rich, but muted. In false boletus, the cap skin is usually brightly colored, and if you look closely, you can notice a characteristic greenish tint.
4. The wrong side of the cap of the edible boletus, unlike the false counterpart, is painted white from below, sometimes with a creamy tint. In bitterness, it is pink: young mushrooms are distinguished by a gentle tone, old ones are dirty.
5. The scaly pattern on the surface of the leg of a real boletus resembles birch bark. At the false leg, it is decorated with dark veins, similar to a network of blood vessels.
6. The pulp of an edible boletus does not change color when broken. The cap of the false in the place of the incision, as a rule, turns red, and its leg darkens when damaged.

To do this, it is advised to cut off the fruiting body and touch the pulp with the tip of the tongue. In edible boletus, the flesh has no taste, but a distinct bitterness will help to recognize the gall fungus. However, this diagnostic method is not safe: even though the mustard is not poisonous, there is always the possibility that another fungus was mistaken for it, which, in turn, may turn out to be toxic.

The video will tell you more about what a false boletus looks like and how to distinguish it from the edible mushrooms it looks like:

Symptoms of false boletus poisoning and first aid

Cases of poisoning by false boletus are not described in detail. The strong bitterness that manifests itself in any dish where at least a small piece of the gall fungus is mistakenly included excludes the possibility that a person can eat at least a slightly dangerous amount of the product. However, there is an opinion that false boletus toxins, even in small quantities, in some cases can cause malfunction of the digestive organs or indigestion.

In any case, you should remember the first signs of mushroom poisoning. They may be:

• weakness;
• dizziness;
• nausea;
• heartburn;
• diarrhea.

When these symptoms appear, the victim should:

• rinse the stomach by drinking 3-4 glasses of warm clean water and causing a gag reflex;
• take an absorbent as soon as possible (5-6 activated charcoal tablets);
• if in the first hours after poisoning there is no loose stool, you should take a saline laxative or put a cleansing enema;
• lie down in bed, cover yourself with a blanket, apply warm heating pads to your legs and arms;
• with nausea and vomiting, drink warm water in small sips, in which table salt is dissolved (1 tsp per 1 glass);
• in case of weakness, drink strong tea with sugar or honey, black coffee;
• be sure to see a doctor.

In particular, you should hurry up with seeking qualified medical help if a poisoned person has an increase in signs of intoxication:

• temperature increase;
• vomiting;
• increasing pain in the abdomen;
• hallucinations and clouding of consciousness.

Delay or underestimation of the danger in case of mushroom poisoning can seriously affect human health and even cost lives.

Conclusion

Boletus boletus, or gall fungus, cannot be eaten – it has an unpleasant taste, very bitter flesh. However, it is often confused with the edible boletus, popular and beloved among mushroom pickers. However, these mushrooms are similar only at first glance. Having studied them more carefully, one can find a number of significant differences in the color of the cap, the texture of the skin covering it, the color of the pores on its wrong side, the shape of the stem and the pattern on it, and the color of the flesh at the break. Remembering which signs characterize a real boletus and which are false, the mushroom picker will not be mistaken in determining what exactly he discovered. In this case, his “catch” will not spoil the mushroom dish and will not harm health. But if it so happened that mushroom poisoning did occur, you need to know how it manifests itself, immediately provide first aid to the victim and be sure to consult a doctor.