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Hemispherical stropharia or semicircular troishling is a habitual inhabitant of manured fields where livestock regularly grazes. Light yellow caps on thin and long legs immediately catch the eye. However, there is no need to rush to collect these mushrooms – they are inedible and cause hallucinations when consumed.
What does hemispherical stropharia look like
Hemispherical stropharia (lat. Stropharia semiglobata) belongs to agaric or agaric fungi of the Strophariaceae family. It is a fragile-looking small fungus on a disproportionately long stem.
Cap Description
The cap of hemispherical stropharia at a young age has the shape of a sphere, as the fruiting body grows, it transforms into a hemisphere without a tubercle in the center, almost never fully opens. If you make a longitudinal section of the cap, you get an even semicircle, as if outlined by a compass. The diameter of the cap is more than modest – only 1-3 cm. The upper part of the cap is smooth, in rainy weather it is covered with a thin layer of mucus.
Hat color can be:
- light yellow;
- ocher;
- lemon;
- light orange.
The center is more intensely colored; there may be remains of a veil along the edges. The flesh is yellowish white.
The back side of the cap is represented by a hymenophore of rare wide plates adhering to the stem. In young mushrooms, they are painted in a grayish tint; in mature specimens, they acquire a dark brown-violet color.
The spore powder is initially olive in color but becomes almost black as it matures. The spores are smooth and elliptical in shape.
Description of the leg
The leg of hemispherical stropharia is exorbitantly long relative to the cap – 12-15 cm. In rare cases, it grows straight, more often curved and slightly swollen at the base. The leg is hollow inside. In young stropharia, a leathery ring can be distinguished, which quickly disappears with age. The surface of the leg is mucous and smooth to the touch, finely scaly closer to the base. The leg of the hemispherical stropharia is colored in yellow tones, but somewhat lighter than the cap.
Where and how to grow
Stropharia hemispherical is found in all regions of Our Country. Usually grows in pastures, fields, along forest roads and paths. Prefers rich, manured soils, can settle directly on the dunghill. In most cases, it grows in groups, the fruiting period is from mid-spring to late autumn.
Twins and their differences
Due to the yellow-lemon or honey coloring, hemispherical stropharia is difficult to confuse with other mushrooms. It has the greatest similarity with the inedible golden bolbitus (Bolbitius vitellinus), which also prefers to settle in meadows and fields flavored with animal excrement. In this type of plate, even in old age, they retain color and do not turn black – this is the main difference between bolbitus.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
Stropharia hemispherical is an inedible hallucinogenic mushroom. Its activity is low and may not manifest itself at all, however, it is better to refrain from eating it.
The impact of hemispherical stropharia on the body
The chemical composition of Stropharia semiglobata contains the hallucinogen psilocybin. It causes psychological dependence in a person, in terms of its effect on the mind it is similar to LSD. Emotional experiences can be both positive and negative. A mushroom eaten on an empty stomach after 20 minutes can cause dizziness, tremors in the legs and arms, and unreasonable fear. Drug symptoms appear later.
With the regular use of mushrooms containing psilocybin, irreversible psychological changes can occur in a person, in some cases this threatens with complete destruction of the personality. In addition to the negative impact on the psyche, hallucinogens adversely affect the work of the heart, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract.
Conclusion
Stropharia hemispherical is a common inedible mushroom that should be avoided. Tiny, at first glance, harmless mushrooms can cause serious harm to the human body.