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Multicolor flake is a little-studied mushroom from the Strophariaceae family, so it is better to admire it without risking life and health. Among others of the genus is the most beautiful and rare.
What does multicolor flake look like
Multicolored flake is unlikely to be confused with other mushrooms, it is very bright and unusual. It has several names, mostly foreign, because. on the territory of Our Country, the species was discovered not so long ago:
- Flammula polychroa;
- Agaricus ornellus or polychrous;
- Pholiota ornella or appendiculata;
- Pholiota Gymnopilus polychrous.
The multicolor scale belongs to the Basidiomycetes department (Basidiomycota), the Strophariaceae family, the Pholiota genus.
Nothing is known about the edibility of the species, but most related specimens are very bitter. Common flakes are used for food. Inedible specimens have unique medicinal properties, which is why they are grown on an industrial scale in China and Japan. Multicolored flake has no nutritional value.
Cap Description
The multicolor flake stands out not only in color, but also in the size of the cap, it grows up to 12 cm in diameter. In small and growing multicolors, it is domed, convex, with a large number of scales on the surface. The color can change from pinkish-olive to bright purple. With age, the cap becomes flatter, turning completely dark crimson, brightening only at the edges, which may remain snow-white or acquire a yellowish tint. Old mushrooms are discolored.
The skin separates well. The flesh is whitish-yellow.
In wet weather, the hat is especially sticky and slippery.
The edges of the cap are covered with a fluffy veil resembling an openwork braid, due to which the flake looks even more interesting. The plates from the bottom of the cap are frequent and narrow, white or pink-yellow, adherent to the stem.
In young specimens, there is a visible ring under the plates, fibrous and brittle, which disappears, leaving a faint annular zone.
Description of the leg
Multicolor scales can grow up to 8 cm in height, the diameter of the stem is up to 1 cm. Above the annular zone, the stem is silky, does not have scales, but those located below are rare. Most often, the leg is white or yellowish, but it can also be blue or emerald. The shape is cylindrical, even, slightly narrowed towards the base, in adult multicolors it is empty.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
There are many more inedible multi-colored ones that can cause mild gastric poisoning than edible ones, but the multi-colored flake has not yet been ranked by scientists as either one or the other. So, it would be wiser to taste until the mushroom is tasted. Mushroom pickers have an old saying: “The more poisonous the mushroom, the more beautiful its hat.”
Where and how to grow
The multicolor flake lives in mixed and deciduous forests of Canada and North America. Recently, the species began to meet in the northern latitudes. Single specimens come across in the southern forests, for example, in the Krasnodar Territory.
The period of appearance is from May to November, in parks, garden plots and squares. Grows singly or in small groups on old stumps, deadwood or deciduous trees.
Twins and their differences
The multicolored scaly does not have twins, but outwardly it looks like a blue-green stropharia.
These mushrooms, despite their unusual appearance, are conditionally edible, but eating large amounts of them can lead to hallucinations. This is probably why in America stropharia is considered poisonous.
Conclusion
Multicolor flake – a mushroom of amazing beauty, it is impossible to pass by it indifferently. Scientists have not yet made conclusions about its edibility, so it is better to refuse to collect exotic specimens.
