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The ram mushroom is an unusual tree fungus with a lot of valuable properties. You can meet him in the forest not so often, but a rare find can be of great benefit.
Description of Maitake Mushroom
The ram mushroom is also known by the names of meitake, leafy tinder fungus, curly vulture, leafy tinder fungus and dancing mushroom. It is quite easy to recognize it at a meeting – the meitake fruiting body looks extremely original.
A video of a sheep mushroom shows that this mushroom species looks like a kind of bush, consisting of numerous small mushrooms with small caps. The legs of these mushrooms are long and well-defined, light in shade, and the caps look like tree leaves or tongues, they are dark in color at the edges and lighter in the central part.
In general, the color of the unusual ram mushroom ranges from greenish-gray to gray-pink. The lower surface of the small caps is tubular, with small pores; the hymenophore descends on the legs. If you break the meitake, then inside it will turn out to be white and fragile, with a pleasant aroma of pulp, many catch a nutty tint in the smell.
Grifola can grow very large and take up the entire basket when harvested.
Where does the ram mushroom grow
The ram mushroom grows in Our Country mainly in the Far East, the Volga region and the Urals. Meitake prefers broad-leaved forests, chooses mainly maples and oaks for its growth, and can also be found on beech and chestnut trunks. The ram mushroom comes across in the Kaliningrad region, and all over the world you can also find it in North America, mainly in the eastern part, in Australia, in the temperate climate of Asia and Europe. Mass fruiting occurs at the end of August, and lasts until mid-autumn.
The ram mushroom is considered quite rare; in Our Country it is listed in the Red Book. Collecting it is most often prohibited, since the species is classified as endangered.
You can find griffola curly under the roots of oaks
How does the ram mushroom grow
Curly Grifola belongs to the category of trees and grows mainly on stumps. Basically, the ram mushroom is located in the lower part of oaks and maples, sometimes it chooses the trunks of beeches, chestnuts and lindens, it is very rare to find it on pines. You can also see fruiting bodies on living trees, but this happens less often, usually meitake still settles on dead wood.
Despite its many valuable features, curly griffon, or mushroom baran, is a pest for trees. It causes white rot, so a tree affected by vulture quickly dies.
In one meitake, you can count about 200 small hats
What does a ram mushroom look like
It is very easy to recognize meitake – griffola is characterized by a bushy structure, vaguely resembling sheep’s hair. From the photo of the sheep’s head mushroom, you can see that on average one griffol contains from 80 to 100 small mushrooms, sometimes the fruiting body is formed by 150-200 hats. Meitake is characterized by rapid growth, it can reach a mass of about 10 kg in just a few days.
The weight of an individual fruiting body can exceed 10 kg
Varieties of sheep mushroom
Under the name of the ram mushroom in amateur sources and on forums, you can find 2 more varieties of mushrooms. In fact, they belong to other mushroom families, but they have a strong resemblance to meitake, therefore they are often considered species of ram mushroom.
Umbrella vulture
Related vultures, umbrella and curly, are very similar to each other in appearance, usually settle in the same places and bear fruit at the same time. Umbrella griffola is also suitable for eating and is even considered a delicacy.
The main difference lies in the shape of the fruiting body – in the umbrella griffon, the hat has a fan shape, in addition, the fruiting body has lateral legs. You can distinguish the mushroom by a pleasant dill smell.
curly sparassis
Another variety of sheep mushroom is the so-called mushroom cabbage, or curly sparassis. The species has a certain resemblance to the vulture, since the body of the sparassis also consists of dozens of small mushrooms. But at the same time, the color of the curly sparassis is yellowish-beige, the hat petals are thin and openwork, and the shape of the fruiting body is spherical, which makes it look like a cabbage head. In addition, sparassis grows mainly not in deciduous, but in coniferous forests under the roots of pines.
Curly sparassi mushroom is edible, young fruiting bodies can be eaten.
Edible or not curly griffon
The tinder fungus ram is considered edible and is highly valued for its unusual but pleasant nutty taste. Meitake is eaten boiled, fried, dried or pickled, served both as an independent dish and as a nutritious side dish. Dried mushroom powder is often used as a spicy seasoning.
The benefits and harms of sheep mushroom
A specific nutty flavor and aroma are far from the only features of curly vulture. The ram mushroom has numerous beneficial properties and is able to have a beneficial effect on human health.
Grifola pulp contains:
- subgroup B vitamins – from B1 to B9;
- vitamins E and D;
- magnesium and potassium;
- phosphorus, iron, zinc and copper;
- calcium and sodium;
- selenium;
- valuable amino acids – leucine, arginine, valine, tryptophan and many others;
- aspartic and glutamic acids;
- antibiotic compounds;
- phytoncides and saponins;
- flavonoids and triterpenes;
- steroids and polysaccharides.
Grifola curly is not only tasty, but also very healthy
Thanks to this composition, curly griffol has a wide range of useful properties. When used, it:
- cleanses the body and restores metabolic processes;
- strengthens blood vessels and reduces capillary fragility;
- disinfects and helps fight viruses and infections;
- thins the blood and positively affects the quality of red blood cells;
- reduces the level of bad cholesterol and prevents the development of atherosclerosis;
- removes slags and toxins;
- strengthens the body’s immune defenses.
Useful properties and contraindications of meitake mushroom are always connected with each other. When using the fruiting body, you need to remember that meitake can bring not only benefits, but also harm:
- The mushroom pulp contains a high amount of chitin. The substance is not digested in the body, and therefore, when overeating curly griffin, it can lead to constipation and abdominal pain.
- Grifola is not recommended for pregnant women and young children under 12 years of age. The product is considered too heavy for sensitive digestion.
- It is better to refuse the ram mushroom with sluggish work of the stomach and a general tendency to constipation.
- Eating mushroom pulp is not worth it if you are allergic to mushrooms – this can cause an allergic reaction.
Medicinal products are prepared on the basis of curly vulture
Also, curly griffol can cause harm if collected in an ecologically unfavorable area. Like any mushroom, meitake quickly absorbs harmful substances from the environment. Fruiting bodies that grew near busy roads or near industrial facilities should not be used for food, they will not bring health benefits.
Medicinal properties of sheep mushroom
Curly Griffola, with its diverse and beneficial chemical composition, is often used in folk medicine. In particular, the ram mushroom is used:
- to support the health of the heart and blood vessels and strengthen the immune system;
- for the treatment of headaches and joint pain;
- with overwork and chronic fatigue;
- with anemia and deficiency of nutrients in the body;
- for the removal of toxins and as an anthelmintic natural remedy;
- to regulate hormonal levels and maintain normal body weight;
- for the treatment of tuberculosis, bronchitis and other ailments of the respiratory system;
- for the treatment of digestive and gastric ailments;
- to normalize blood pressure.
It is especially worth noting the benefits of meitake mushroom for women, it improves well-being during menopause, and during painful periods it helps to relieve spasms and discomfort. Since the mushroom pulp contains estrogen-like substances, curly griffola has a pronounced positive effect on the reproductive system and prevents the development of cancer of the uterus, ovaries and mammary glands. It is useful to use ram mushroom for men, it reduces the risk of developing prostate cancer.
Maitake has proven anti-cancer properties
The use of the meitake mushroom in folk medicine is practiced in several forms. From fresh or dried pulp, infusions, powders and extracts are prepared, which are beneficial for internal and external use.
Powder
Dried meitake are ground to a homogeneous powder and put away for storage in paper bags or wooden containers. The powder can be used both internally and externally, it must first be diluted with water. The tool helps with inflammatory processes and promotes the healing of skin lesions.
Tincture
To prepare a useful tincture, 3 large spoons of crushed dry griffins are poured into 500 ml of vodka and infused for 2 weeks in a dark place. Use the finished product along with the sediment, without filtering, and you need to drink the tincture 1 small spoon three times a day on an empty stomach.
The tool helps to increase immunity and promotes weight loss. The duration of the course of taking the tincture is no more than 3 months in a row.
In folk medicine, curly griffin is infused and ground into powder.
Oil extract
Maitake-based oil is of great benefit in obesity, oncology and other ailments. About 3 large spoons of chopped dry maitake should be poured over 500 ml of olive oil. The container is closed and removed for 2 weeks to infuse in a dark place, and then taken on an empty stomach, 2 small spoons.
Since the oil has a high fat content, it should be consumed no more than three times a day, and no more than 90 days in a row.
Water infusion
Of great benefit for colds and inflammatory processes is the infusion of vulture on the water. A small spoonful of chopped dry pulp is poured into 250 ml of water and insisted for 8 hours under the lid.
You need to use the infusion three times a day, without filtering. Before use, the infusion is shaken so that a useful sediment rises from the bottom. They usually drink homemade medicine for 3 months, but if you wish, you can use meitake infusion for longer, it has no strict contraindications.
You can take maitake to treat a cold
How to distinguish false sheep mushrooms
In addition to curly sparassis and umbrella griffon, which in many sources are considered varieties of sheep mushroom, meitake has false twins. Some tree mushrooms resemble curly griffon in their structure and shape, but they do not have such good taste and benefits.
Meripilus giant
The most famous false twin of meitake is the giant meripilus. It also grows at the roots of deciduous trees, chooses mainly oaks and beeches, has a large fruiting body, consisting of numerous fused hats. It is suitable for food consumption, but less tasty and healthy than meitake.
Meitake can be distinguished by the shape of the hats and by the presence of long thin legs.
Unlike the ram mushroom, the meripilus does not have a pronounced stem – the caps that make up the fruiting body grow from a shapeless base. In addition, individual caps have a semicircular shape and are much larger in size than curly griffon caps.
The main differences between the ram mushroom and false twins are precisely the long thin legs on which individual hats rise, as well as the small size of the hats themselves. Curly Griffola can also be recognized by its characteristic nutty aroma.
Cultivation of sheep mushrooms
Healthy and tasty grifola is a rare mushroom, for example, the ram mushroom is very rare in the Moscow region, and besides, in most regions it is listed in the Red Book. Therefore, growing it in your country house is much easier and more practical than looking for it in wildlife.
There are 2 methods of home cultivation of the Red Book ram mushroom – on a special substrate and on wet wood.
Growing curly vulture on a substrate
To grow a dancing maitake mushroom in your area, you will need to acquire a substrate consisting of hardwood sawdust and mycelium of this type, it can be ordered at a specialized store. The growing algorithm looks like this:
- the substrate is doused with boiling water to destroy possible harmful microorganisms, and wait until it cools down a bit;
- after that, the acquired mycelium is mixed with sawdust and the mixture is placed in small plastic bags;
- the bags are tightly tied and several holes are made in them for air access;
- the substrate and mycelium are placed indoors with a temperature of about 25 ° C, moderate lighting and good ventilation.
The first sprouts, subject to the conditions for growing the ram mushroom, will appear in 3-4 weeks. Every few days, the substrate will need to be moistened so that it does not dry out. It will be possible to harvest curly vulture in 3-4 months, and in total mushroom mycelium will be able to bear fruit up to 6 years in a row.
Maitake can be grown at home in a plastic bag
Growing on a deciduous log
The second method of growing meitake suggests using wood, this allows you to create the most natural conditions for mushroom mycelium. You need to act according to the following algorithm:
- a small deciduous log, clean and not rotten, soaked for a couple of days;
- then for another 2 days the wood is dried in the fresh air and holes are made in the log about 5-7 cm deep and up to 1 cm in diameter;
- the purchased mycelium is carefully placed in the prepared holes and covered with a ball rolled from sawdust;
- the log is covered with a plastic bag to create greenhouse conditions and cleaned in a barn or basement with constant lighting and a temperature of about 20-25 ° C.
From time to time, the log needs to be watered so that the wood does not dry out. After about 3 months, the curly griffon will be able to give the first crop.
In the country, meitake is often grown directly on a log.
Conclusion
The ram mushroom, or curly griffola, is a rare delicacy mushroom listed in the Red Book. It is difficult to find it in nature, but curly griffol can be grown on your own plot and used for both cooking and medicinal purposes.
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