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Chromozera blueleaf is one of the many agaric mushrooms found in forests. A feature of this species is their growth on dead wood of coniferous trees. By decomposing cellulose into simpler substances, these fungi contribute to the intensive cleansing of the forest from fallen trees.
Description of blue-plate chromozera
Blue-plate chromozera (omphalina blue-plate) is a small mushroom of the Hygroforaceae family. It has a classic shape with a pronounced hat and leg.
Blue-plate chromozera is common in many countries, including Our Country.
Cap Description
The cap of the blueplatinum omphalina is a hemisphere 1-3 cm in diameter with a small depressed center. As the fungus grows, the edges rise slightly, the shape becomes truncated-conical and flatter, and the depression in the center is more pronounced. The color of the cap of a young blue-plate omphalina can have various shades of ocher, yellow-orange, light brown, with age its saturation decreases, and the color becomes olive-gray. The surface is sticky, slippery, mucous in wet weather.
On the reverse side of the cap are rather thick rare plates of 2 alternating types:
- truncated;
- descending, fused with the leg.
At the beginning of the life of the fungus, the plates are pinkish-purple, as they grow, they become more and more blue, and at the end of life they become gray-violet.
Description of the leg
The leg of the blue-plate chromozera can grow up to 3,5 cm, while its diameter is only 1,5-3 mm. It is cylindrical, slightly thickening downwards, usually slightly curved. To the touch is sticky, mucous, has a cartilaginous structure.
The color of the legs can be different, including shades of yellow-brown, yellowish-olive, beige with an admixture of purple. At the base of an adult mushroom, it is bright purple with a blue tint. The flesh of the blue-plate chromozera usually does not differ in color from the cap, it is thin, brittle, without a certain taste and smell.
Where and how to grow
Blue-lamella chromozera is found in coniferous and mixed forests in Europe and North America. It usually grows in the first half of summer, singly and in small clusters on dead coniferous wood.
A short video on how the blue-plate chromozera grows in natural conditions can be viewed at the link:
Is the mushroom edible or not?
There is no exact information in the literature about the edibility or toxicity of this mushroom. A priori, blue-plate chromozera is considered inedible. Moreover, because of its extremely small size, it has no commercial value.
Twins and their differences
The blue-plate chromozera bears some resemblance to Rhoridomyces dewy. This mushroom can also be found in coniferous and mixed forests, where it grows on rotten wood, cones and fallen needles. Like omphalina blue-plate, rhoridomices dewy begins to appear as early as May, but its fruiting lasts much longer and ends in late autumn.
The cap of this mushroom is ribbed, at first hemispherical, then prostrate, with a small dimple in the center, 1-1,5 cm in diameter. Its color is cream, brownish in the middle part. The leg is cylindrical, whitish, covered with mucus, slightly darker below, can grow up to 6 cm.
Conclusion
Blue-lamella chromozera is one of the numerous species of saprotrophic fungi, thanks to which the forest is cleared of dead wood. Due to their small size, mushroom pickers most often simply do not notice them, and they have no commercial value due to their little study. However, for the forest, their role is simply invaluable.