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Stereum wrinkled – an inedible perennial species that grows on felled and decaying deciduous, less often coniferous trees. The variety is common in the northern temperate zone, bears fruit throughout the warm period.
Where does the wrinkled stereoum grow?
This representative of the mushroom kingdom can be found throughout Our Country. But most often appears in the northern zone on deciduous trees, in mixed forests, parks and forest parks. Settles on dead wood, stumps and rotten wood, rarely appears on living wounded trees.
What does a wrinkled stereome look like?
The variety has a flattened, rigid fruiting body. With mass growth grow together with each other, forming long wavy ribbons. You can recognize them by varietal description.
They may look different:
- The rounded edges are thickened into a small roller.
- The flat fruiting body has a rough surface and wavy bent edges. The width of the bent edge is not more than 3-5 mm. The hard surface is painted dark brown with a pronounced lightened stripe along the edge.
- A mushroom is rarely found, located on wood in the form of hats with an open common base.
The lower part is smooth, sometimes with slight bulges, cream or light yellow in color, fading to pink-brown with age. In dry weather, the fruiting body hardens and cracks. With mechanical damage, red milky juice is released. This reaction occurs even in dried specimens, if the fracture site is first moistened with water.
The pulp is hard or corky, gray in color, has no smell and taste. On the cut of old specimens, thin annual layers are clearly visible.
Reproduction occurs by transparent elongated spores, which are located in a light yellow spore powder. It bears fruit throughout the warm period.
Is it possible to eat stereum wrinkled
Stereoum wrinkled – inedible species, but not poisonous. Due to the hard pulp and lack of smell, it is not used in cooking.
Similar species
Stereoum wrinkled, like any variety, has its counterparts. These include:
- Blood red or blushing, grows in coniferous forests. The fruiting body is shell-shaped with bent edges. When dried, the light-wavy edges are bent down. When pressed or damaged, bloody milky juice is released. The fungus settles on dead wood. In the first stage of decomposition, the tree acquires a red-brown color, in the second – snow-white. The variety is inedible.
- Baikovy or oak, prefers to grow on rotting oak trunks and stumps, rarely settles on birch and maple. The prostrate or cap-shaped fruiting body is colored light brown. With mass growth, mushrooms merge and occupy an impressive space. When damaged, the pulp releases a red liquid. The mushroom is inedible, odorless and tasteless.
Application
The wrinkled stereoum continues to develop as a saprotroph after the death of the affected tree. Therefore, the fungus can be equated with the orderlies of the forest. By decomposing old wood and turning it into dust, they enrich the soil with useful trace elements, making it more fertile. Since the mushroom releases red juice when mechanically damaged, it can be used to make paints.
Conclusion
Stereum wrinkled – an inedible variety that grows on the trunks of damaged or dry deciduous trees. The species is perennial, bears fruit throughout the warm period. A distinctive feature of the variety is the red milky juice that appears at the slightest damage.