Contents
The Negniuchnikov family includes more than 50 species of mushrooms, most of which are suitable for consumption, but there are representatives that cause poisoning. Collibia water-loving is a conditionally edible saprophyte, characterized by a sweetish taste and lack of smell. Appears in May, stops growing with the onset of frost.
What does water-loving collibia look like?
Collibia water-loving is the only representative of the species in which it is difficult to determine the clear color of the color of the fruiting body. In the dry season, the shade is light beige with an ocher color in the middle. It can be a solid cream. If the season is rainy or the place is constantly wet, the water-loving hymnopus has a light or dark brown color.
Cap Description
Water-loving Collibia is a small mushroom, the diameter of which rarely exceeds 5 cm.
External characteristic:
- in young specimens, the shape of the cap is rounded, sloping, as the fungus grows older it becomes more open (up to prostrate);
- the edges are lowered, uneven, transparent, the plates are visually determined;
- the surface is slightly bumpy, hygrophanous, transparent, not slippery, but not dry either;
- the color is never uniform, the central part may be darker or lighter than the extreme;
- plates of two types: short, reaching to the middle; long, rarely protruding beyond the cap;
- plates beige or with a yellow tinge, rarely located, firmly attached to the fruiting body;
- spores are white or cream;
- the flesh is fragile, slightly sweet, beige or white, odorless.
Description of the leg
The leg of the water-loving hymnopus reaches a length of 4-8 cm, a width of about 1,5 cm. The color is light on top, a tone darker below. The hue does not differ from the color of the hat.
The stem is hollow, formed in the form of a cylinder, narrow near the cap and expanding towards the base.
The structure of the leg is rigid, fibrous, lined.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
The nutritional value of water-loving collibium is low, it is classified as a conditionally edible group. Half-cooked collibia can cause intestinal upset and nausea. Intoxication is short-term and insignificant. There is no significant harm from collibium.
Where and how to grow
Collibia is found from the European part to the South. The main accumulation is observed in the Central and North-West region, in the Urals and Eastern Siberia, in the Moscow region. It grows in coniferous, mixed forests on a moss or rotten leaf cushion, on the remains of trees: branches, bark, stumps. It is found in open wetlands and along the banks of small reservoirs. Forms large colonies. The main requirement for growth is a moist environment.
Twins and their differences
Outwardly, the water-loving hymnopus is similar to the forest-loving collibia (Gymnopus dryophilus).
Without detailed consideration, the fruiting bodies are exactly the same. The double is never dark brown. The leg at the cut site breaks up into ribbons. The surface of the cap is dry. There is no expansion at the base of the leg, it is of the same width along the entire length. The nutritional value of the species is the same.
The sulfur-yellow false foam belongs to a different family, but outwardly the mushrooms are very similar. The double is toxic, can cause severe poisoning and serious consequences.
The cap of the false foam is slippery, sloping, never fully opens, it can only expand slightly. The color is dark or light yellow center with a pink tinge. The main difference between the double and the hymnopus:
- leg with scaly ornament;
- color gray-green or light brown;
- the volume is the same along the entire length without expanding downwards;
- at the base on the surface there is no mycelium with bright threads of mycelium;
- spore-bearing plates are covered with a film, after rupture it forms a ring with torn edges;
- the taste of the double is bitter with a sharp repulsive odor.
Conclusion
Collibia water-loving – one of the earliest types of mushrooms that appear in May. Grows only in a humid environment, forms colonies. Nutritional value is low, may cause mild poisoning.
