Gymnopilus junonius (Gymnopilus junonius) photo and description

Gymnopilus junonius (Gymnopilus junonius)

• Hymnopile prominent

Juno Hymnopyle (lat. Gymnopilus junonius) is a very beautiful and photogenic mushroom. It is a member of the Strophariaceae family and is considered non-poisonous, but inedible due to its strong bitterness. Currently, edible mushrooms of this genus are unknown to science. In ancient times, this mushroom was considered even hallucinogenic.

In appearance, the hymnopile looks like an edible flake, the hat of which is non-mucilaginous, yellow-ocher, with rather thick plates, and it grows on willows.

The size of the mushroom is quite large. Decorated with a yellow or even orange hat, reaching fifteen centimeters in diameter. The surface of the cap is densely covered with small numerous scales flatly pressed to the mushroom cap. In color, they do not differ from the color of the paint itself. The hemispherical cap of young mushrooms later turns into a flat cap with rather wavy edges. The yellow plates of the fungus change over time to rusty brown. The fibrous stalk is thickened at the base and is rhizomatous in shape. It has a membranous dark-colored ring located on top, sprinkled with spores that are rusty in color.

Gymnopyla Juno is found from mid-summer to late autumn, mainly in mixed forests. A favorite growing place is the soil under an oak or the soil at the base of oak stumps.

Among mushroom pickers, it is considered a wood destroyer, but it often parasitizes living trees. It is extremely rare in solitude, mostly growing in small obese groups.

The distribution area is located almost throughout the territory, except for cold northern places.

This type of mushroom is quite well known among amateurs and professional mushroom pickers who are well versed in modern types of mushrooms.