An ordinary line: edible or not, description. Mushroom Picker's Guide
The first spring mushrooms that arouse the systematic interest of collectors are two groups of “marsupial” mushrooms, united under the names “morels” and “strings”. It is often believed that “morels are edible, but morels are poisonous,” but this is a serious oversimplification. However, first things first.
The first and best spring mushroom, the morel, represents several species of mushrooms from the genus. The conical morel, Morchella conica, is especially common in our area; other morels are much more difficult to find. However, to find the “konik” you still have to try. In general, spring mushrooms grow differently from “normal” mushrooms. You can idly walk around a very large area, trample down tens of kilometers of barren roads in order to stumble upon a small “mushroom paradise”, stumble upon it and apply it to your mushroom map forever.
Looking for morels requires patience and luck; Damaged (but not severely) deciduous systems, edges, ditches, and recent burnt areas may be a clue. The largest amount of conical morels I saw near a landfill construction waste in the Istra region; I didn’t find any real morels at all.
Actually, the conical morel is the only mushroom of the morel genus presented on our website. Other morels are similar. They are distinguished from stitches (see below) by the symmetrical-cellular, versus asymmetrical-brain-like, structure of the “hat”. From the “morel cap” (see further below) - the inseparability of the “hat” from the “leg”, an internal unity that paradoxically turns into emptiness.
Another popular group of spring ascomycete mushrooms is called “stroke”, or. This genus includes three common species - two spring and one autumn, unpopular and even poisonous. We won’t talk about it, the autumn line (Gyromitra infula). Let's talk about the other two.
The giant string is a really large, sometimes huge mushroom, reminiscent of a brain in a sitting position (in our area, the stem of this mushroom is often absent or too short to discuss seriously; colleagues from Siberia, however, show photographs of giant strings, long-legged, like a morel cap ; mushrooms are a mysterious matter and defy logic). It is considered bad manners to joke when you see a clearing of lines: “someone has lost their minds here.” This has been joked to you more than once.
Stringweed grows mainly in deciduous and spruce forests, especially highlighting (in my experience) spruce-birch copses. However, he does not disdain all sorts of atypical places - for example, the wilds of hazel and euonymus along the edges of clearings. You can find it almost anywhere, even in pine trees; not to find, however, much easier. And anywhere too. Although compared to morels, the lines are rootless cosmopolitans.
The ordinary line has a rather tarnished reputation. This line is much smaller than the giant one, less “brainy” and more often has a developed pseudopod. It grows exclusively in pine trees, especially in pine clearings and in young plantings (on the site of the same clearings, presumably); is especially interested in old fires. Unlike the giant string, which is certainly edible, the common string (in Latin called esculenta, that is, “edible”) is considered deadly poisonous in some regions. Here they eat. We eat.
The best minds undertook to explain this phenomenon mushroom world. They agreed that the presence of the poison gyromitrin in the common line depends on the average annual temperature. There is some threshold below which the poison is not produced; Polish lines are poisonous, and Smolensk ones are already edible.
Convincing explanation? Hardly. However, in the Moscow region we collect and eat ordinary lines. I do this: boil for 15 minutes in a large volume of water, drain the water, rinse the mushrooms with cold water, and simmer in sour cream. Simmer - and listen to how they “shoot” from under the lid, just as Soloukhin once described. He was a great specialist.
The fungus Discina thyroid is also sometimes included in the line; it really grows at the same time, sometimes physically intersecting with both a giant and an ordinary line. They call it “flat stitch”. She is not a relative of the lines, perhaps a distant one. It's good for food, but there's really nothing else to eat. I don’t think this mushroom deserves special attention from consumers.
It remains to say about the least famous group spring mushrooms - about the so-called “cap”, genus. The most popular mushroom in this genus is the morel cap. Fruits in a very narrow layer, a maximum of two weeks; found exclusively in wet young deciduous forests. In a culinary sense, I would say, so-so - so there is no strong motivation to look for tiny pockets of growth of this “cap” in the vast forests. (It is called this because, unlike the morel, Verpa has a clearly defined cap that can be separated from the stem.)
If you happened to drive along the M4 highway through pine forests near the city of Zadonsk (from Voronezh), you couldn’t help but notice the huge stands of pickled mushrooms along the edges of the road. It seems that Zadonsk is the mushroom capital, if not of Russia, then at least of the Black Earth Region. Upon first meeting, it turns out that the morel cap for these places is common mushroom, and the locals harvest it (him?) in commercial quantities. Every year.
For fun, you can buy a large jar of pickled cap. I had it open for a very long time.
If we take it out of brackets aesthetic feeling, Discina thyroid is a “spread stitch” - it grows in the same place, and is just as valued as ordinary (pine) stitch. Two facts speak against it: firstly, it is many times smaller, and secondly, it often resembles a riddle small animal. But appearances are deceptive - the mushroom can be stewed as part of a “string assortment”, no one will notice the substitution.
In warm regions, this line is not only considered, but also poisonous; they are poisoned to death; these, alas, are not legends. They eat and praise us. Strings stewed with butter may seem like the food of the gods - if only the cook manages to completely get rid of the sand that eats into the lower parts fruiting bodies.
Probably the best of our lines - also because it usually does not grow on sand and, therefore, does not require such careful processing before cooking. It should be noted that in the numerous cavities of the head part, unresponsive forest inhabitants (insects, snails) may be hiding, which can spoil the appetite of an impressionable eater.
Where do morels grow?
In some forest ravine there is still snow, and nearby, along the edges, like a formation of Scots guards in bearskin hats, there are morels. The shape of their cap gave the name to one of the two types of mushrooms that most often end up in our baskets - the conical morel. The representative of the second species, the edible morel, has a more rounded, ovoid cap.
Morel mushrooms grow in different places. You can find edible morels in the forest under deciduous trees, bushes, in ravines - on soil fertilized with humus. Friend edible species- conical morel - maybe big company appear right in a clearing in a mixed forest, or even along a forest path on sandy soil. There is no particular gastronomic difference between them. They are almost identical in aroma and taste. Except that the flesh of the conical one is drier and when cooked it is firmer, with a distinct “crunchiness”.
Another representative of morels stands out among them - the morel cap. She, like conical morel, does not like shade: whole broods of these mushrooms come out to bask in the May sun on the side of roads, clearings and burnt areas. Its peculiarity is that the thick hollow stem occupies almost three-quarters of the mushroom by weight, and the cap, in which all the aroma is concentrated, barely covers its top. And even if you pick up a basket full of caps alone, you will immediately feel the difference with morels: the aroma of the morel cap is poorer.
How to distinguish morels from lines
The morel is often confused with the string, although it belongs to a different family and the difference between them is obvious - they don’t look the same, and the taste is not the same. The stitch, as a rule, stands on a short hollow stem, which is almost invisible from under the shapeless dark brown or even black cap. The stitches are much larger in size than morels.
On one small burnt area you can sometimes collect two or three buckets of stitches, and each one will be the size of a good grapefruit. In terms of gastronomic properties, the string is inferior to morels, but its aroma is excellent. More mushroomy, spicy. Maybe not so subtle, but also bright and memorable.
Is it possible to get poisoned by lines?
Our line has a bad reputation (and sometimes it also applies to morels). There were, they say, cases of poisoning. At first it was believed that the problem was a certain poisonous gelvelic acid (its name comes from one of the mushrooms of the family - gelvels: perhaps in September-October you came across this unsightly mushroom on a thick gray stalk - it is sometimes mistaken for coming from nowhere in autumn time line). This version was not confirmed, and then a new culprit was appointed - the toxin gyromitrin, named after Latin name line.
Morels do not seem to contain gyromitrin (in any case, research by the English scientist R. J. Benedict points to this), but the label of a suspicious mushroom has not been removed from it. Almost any book that admits that morels can be eaten talks about the need for preliminary heat treatment. Such recommendations can reach the point of absurdity - for example, in one recently released cookbook Before cooking, it is suggested to boil the morels for an hour, and then, of course, drain the water. Interesting: every spring I collect, cook and eat these mushrooms - and for many years now I have limited myself to simply washing them with running water and then stewing them. True, I collect morels in certain place- southern Ladoga region. I won’t vouch for other regions - you never know what excellent mushrooms can mutate into under the influence of poor ecology. See for yourself. But don’t forget that after boiling the morels one more time, along with the water you will pour that unique aroma of waking up from the sun into the sink. hibernation forests.
How to cook morels: recipes
Morels are used in different ways. It is better to prepare the first basket brought from the forest as simply as possible. Save the delights until next time. Now shorten the prepared morels, leaving the stem a centimeter from the bottom edge, and cut the mushrooms crosswise into rings. Fry them in melted butter, transfer to a cocotte maker, add salt, add sour cream and place in the oven for 15 minutes. This simple recipe will allow you to fully experience the taste of this spring natural phenomenon.
Now you can bake an old Russian unleavened pie with morels. The dough for it is made very rich, crumbly - with sour cream, butter and yolks. Roll it out into two juicy slices - smaller and larger; on the smaller one, lay out layers of fried morels with two tablespoons of rich sour cream, boiled rice, egg and fried onion added at the end of frying. Rice, of course, occupies the bottom layer in such a pie. Cover the top with a large juicy layer, carefully pinch and bake.
And in traditional Russian kulebyak, morels will be combined with other main fillings - meat or fish. If you have it layered with unleavened pancakes, place the mushrooms on the top “floor.” If you decide to make a kulebyaka in four corners, place morels with rice or egg in one of the corners.
Prepare homemade noodles from a mixture of wheat and buckwheat flour (in equal proportions), boil them and mix with morels or strings stewed in cream. Noodles made from buckwheat flour alone with mushrooms will be even more expressive if you know how to roll them out - be sure to do so. Buckwheat generally goes well with forest mushrooms. And simple buckwheat, and buckwheat flatbreads in company with morels will make a very favorable impression (as, by the way, will pearl barley, but it’s not for everyone).
Morels, like other mushrooms, can be dried and frozen. Drying changes their smell and taste - a new product is obtained, valuable and unique. When frozen, even the most perfect one, the taste of morels is, of course, lost - but it allows you to organize culinary exercises all winter. They do happen mushroom years when and on New Year's table you can put out the sauce with morels, and even in March prepare the famous Annunciation kulebyaka.
Read more recipes on the website gastronom.ru
The lines refer to marsupial fungi, which are members of the Discinaceae family. This mushroom, poisonous in its raw form, is often confused with a similar edible mushroom, the morel.
Appearance
This mushroom is distinguished by a shapeless wavy cap with a diameter of up to 10 centimeters, which has two to four peaks, which makes it look like walnuts or a brain. The color of the cap is brown-chestnut, becoming lighter over time. Almost along its entire length, the cap at the bottom grows to the stem. There are hollow convolutions inside the cap.
The leg of the stitch has a reddish or white tint. The width and height of the stitch legs is 2-3 centimeters. The flesh of the mushroom is light and quite fragile, without a distinct odor.
Kinds
The types of lines are:
Ordinary
This mushroom loves sandy soils and often grows under coniferous trees. Distributed throughout Europe and also in North America. Ripens in the second half of spring.
Giant
It differs in diameter up to 30 centimeters, as well as lighter caps and a different spore structure. Such mushrooms grow next to birch trees. They ripen in April-May.
Autumn
It is a horn-shaped mushroom with brown caps up to 10 centimeters in diameter and long flattened legs. They begin to ripen in July and grow in forests, both on the ground and on rotting wood.
Where does it grow
The lines begin to ripen towards the end of April. They grow both in groups and singly in coniferous and mixed forests. You can find stitches along the road, in a clearing, and also in a young pine forest.
Characteristics
- Mushrooms of this species are valuable for traditional medicine.
- When poisoned by stitches, nausea and vomiting occur. Severe cases lead to coma and death.
Nutritional value and calorie content
100 g of lines contain approximately 20 kcal.
Chemical composition
The toxicity of the lines is associated with the presence of gyromitrins in their composition. These compounds depress the digestive and nervous systems, and also have a negative effect on the blood (they have a hemolytic effect).
Useful and healing properties
The composition of the mushroom is distinguished by the presence of different compounds that provide it with such actions used in folk medicine:
- Pain reliever (due to hormone-like substances)
- Tonic
- Increases appetite
- Improves digestion
- Improves pancreatic function
Harm
Previously, the lines belonged to the group of conditionally edible mushrooms, but are now recognized as inedible, since their improper preparation leads to severe poisoning, often fatal.
When consuming stitches for food, you need to be extremely careful, because:
- Both when boiling and when drying, gyromitrins are not completely destroyed. And if they do not cause poisoning (due to the small dosage), they can still be carcinogenic.
- Some people may have increased sensitivity to these chemicals, so even small amounts of gyromitrins may pose a risk for them.
- There is an assumption that in some strains of mushrooms the content of gyromitrins is increased, so digestion of such mushrooms does not neutralize them.
Contraindications
Lines cannot be used when:
- Pregnancy;
- Serious illnesses heart and blood vessels;
- Breastfeeding;
- Individual intolerance;
- Up to 12 years of age.
Application
In cooking
- Such mushrooms are eaten only after preliminary cooking. After boiling the lines for half an hour, the water is drained, the mushrooms are washed, boiled again for half an hour, the water is drained, and then stewed, boiled or fried.
- The stitches can be dried in the oven, making them non-toxic. With this treatment, the toxic compounds in the mushrooms evaporate, so the toxicity of the product disappears. Dry the stitches at +55 degrees long time. They can also be dried outdoors for six months.
- Before cooking and drying, the stitches should be soaked in water to get rid of insects and dirt in the folds of the caps of these mushrooms.
Watch the next video from which you will learn even more about the stitches and also a recipe for making a casserole from these mushrooms.
In medicine
Stitches can be used for:
- Diseases of the back and joints - arthritis, radiculitis, gout, arthrosis, osteochondrosis, rheumatism and others;
- Neuralgia;
- Eye diseases - cataracts, myopia, glaucoma, farsightedness;
- Myositis;
- Pathologies of the pancreas.
Alcohol tincture
IN medicinal purposes made from lines alcohol tincture, which due to the presence of toxic components is prescribed only for external use.
This tincture is rubbed on the back, joints, and chest (for coughing). Alcohol tincture inside the lines is used only under the supervision of a doctor according to certain methods. Self-medication risks serious poisoning.
To prepare the setting, the stitches should be dried and crushed, after which two and a half tablespoons of the raw material should be poured with 500 ml of vodka. The sealed container with the lines is left in the refrigerator for two weeks. Without straining, rub the tincture 2-3 times a day into the right places, wrapping them in woolen cloth. Treatment is carried out until recovery or disappearance of the pain syndrome.
The name of the line Gyromitra comes from the words of the ancient Greek language, meaning “round” and “headband” in translation.
The stitches are prohibited from being sold in Italy.
In England, the stitch is often called "elephant ears" or "mushroom brain".
Morels (lat. Morchella) is a genus of mushrooms of the morel family, order Peciaceae, class Pezizomycetes division marsupials.
The number of species included in the genus is controversial. The reason is that morels are characterized by significant anatomical and morphological variability (polymorphism) in the structure of fruiting bodies, which depends on climatic factors places of their growth. According to various authors, the genus includes from 3 to 150 species.
The origin of the name morel is controversial. According to one version, it comes from the Russian word “to wrinkle,” since the mushroom has a folded cap skin. Hence the sentence: “The morel wrinkles like an old man.” Term Morchella descended from morchel, old German name this mushroom.
Morels - description and photo. What does a morel mushroom look like?
These are the first mushrooms to grow in the spring. Their large and fleshy fruiting bodies, 2-25 cm high, consist of:
- caps (up to 15 cm in height, up to 10 cm in diameter),
- legs (up to 10 cm long and up to 5 cm in diameter).
The morel cap is ovoid, spherical-bell-shaped, conical or ellipsoidal, with a network of longitudinal and transverse oblique convex ribs, cellular, spongy, often fused with the stem below. From the outside it resembles a honeycomb, and the cut shows that there are cells only on its outside. Its color varies from dirty grayish-white to dark brown, depending on the type and age of the fruiting body.
1. Conical morel (lat. Morchella conica), photo by Jörg Hempel, CC BY-SA 2.0 de. 2. Tall morel (lat. Morchella elata), photo by: Jason Hollinger, CC BY 2.0. 3. Steppe morel (lat. Morchella steppicola), photo by: Andrew Butko, CC BY-SA 3.0. 4. Edible morel (lat. Morchella esculenta), photo by: Björn S..., CC BY-SA 2.0.
The morel stem is glossy, white or yellow-brown, cylindrical, slightly expanding upward or downward or very thick, sometimes furrowed or longitudinally folded, scaly or smooth, fragile.
The entire fruiting body of the pioneer is usually hollow inside and consists of colored, highly branched hyphae with a diameter of 5–10 µm. The hyphae are separated by evenly spaced partitions (septa), in the center of which there is a pore through which migration occurs nutrients and cell organelles.
The flesh of the mushroom is waxy-white, often brittle and thin, with a pleasant odor.
Morel propagation
Morels reproduce asexually or sexually.
- The asexual method includes reproduction by parts of the mycelium (mushroom body) or conidia (immobile spores).
- Sexual reproduction is carried out with the help of ascospores (cells with half the set of chromosomes), which mature in bags (asci). Bags in fungi are formed in fruiting bodies (apothecia), the formation of which is preceded by a sexual process called somatogamy. In this case, the vegetative hyphae of different individuals merge.
Morels are not lamellar and not tubular mushrooms. Their hymenophore is smooth. The spore-bearing layer (hymen) is located along the bottom and slopes of the ribs and consists of bags with 8 ascospores. The asci are large, cylindrical, rounded at the apex. Ascospores are ellipsoidal or spherical, with an uneven surface or smooth, arranged in one row, multinucleated at maturity. Morel spores may be colorless or slightly yellowish. They can be seen under an electron microscope. Spore release is regulated solar radiation and it happens gradually.
The life cycle of morels begins with the germination of multinucleated ascospores. The seedling gives rise to a primary haploid multinucleate mycelium, which exists for a very short time. Ascospores are able to germinate even after long dormancy or storage, after 4-5 years. The hyphae of the primary mycelium of the morel form anastomoses (the connection of two hyphae of one mycelium) or merge with the hyphae of another primary mycelium. As a result of the fusion, a diploid multinucleate organism appears. Subsequently, it is able to enter into symbiosis with higher plants, forming conidial sporulation or sclerotia (resting stage). The main reason for the formation of sclerotia is a deficiency of nutrients in the soil. IN life cycle Morels are dominated by the asexual (vegetative) stage.
Where do morels grow and when can they be collected?
Morel mushrooms are common in the temperate zone Northern Hemisphere: North America and Eurasia. They are also found in mountainous areas Turkey, India, Guatemala, Mexico. Selected species known in areas with Mediterranean and subtropical climates. IN Southern Hemisphere few representatives of the genus grow in the forests of Australia, Tasmania, Chile and Argentina. There are 5 types of morels growing in Russia. They mainly occupy mixed and deciduous forests, but some species are also found in the taiga.
The first spring mushrooms appear in April-May, and morels grow a little later than the lines. Depending on the weather, the date of their appearance may shift by 2-3 weeks. The morel season begins when the forest is freed from snow and fern fronds unfurl. The harvesting time for morels is short and lasts only two weeks. Mushrooms appear less often in the fall, but during this period, among the abundance of other mushrooms, they have little practical significance.
Morels occupy the slopes of ravines, forest glades and edges, thickets of willow and aspen, forest roadsides, clearings. Often and in large quantities they are found in burnt areas, 2-3 years after the fire, growing on charred stumps and fireplaces, where morels and strings can be collected most successfully. All snowdrop mushrooms prefer bright places and wet weather: when the soil dries out and there is a lot of grass on it, representatives of the morel genus can no longer be found.
What is the difference between morels and lines?
Lines (lat. Gyromitra) are mushrooms that are often confused with morels. Both appear at approximately the same time. They are sold on the market under common name"morels". But the strings are more poisonous, especially in their raw form, and in some countries they are even considered inedible. Below are the differences between these mushrooms.
- The surface of the cap of the stitch does not contain cells, it is tortuous and wavy (similar to a brain or a peeled walnut), asymmetrical and does not grow to the stem. In the morel, this part of the mycelium has more correct form, it is covered with convex ribs of cells of different depths and in almost all species grows to the stalk.
- The color of the cap is yellow-brown, brown, less often brown or grayish, often with a reddish tint. In the morel it is dirty grayish-white or dark brown.
Photo on the left: edible morel (lat. Morchella esculenta), photo author: Björn S..., CC BY-SA 2.0; photo on the right: common stitch (lat. Gyromitra esculenta), photo author: Botaurus, Public Domain
- You can also distinguish a morel from a stitch by its stem. The leg stitch is shorter (3-6 cm) and thicker (up to 5 cm in diameter). It is uneven and often swollen at the base. Sometimes it doesn't happen at all. The stem of the morel is approximately equal in length to the cap. In addition, she is slimmer.
- The body of the line is not hollow inside: it is filled with partitions and convolutions. When cut, it is white with a purple tint. The cap and stem of the morel are usually empty inside, and the flesh of the mushroom is white, waxy and brittle.
Photo on the left: steppe morel (lat. Morchella steppicola), photo author: stergios, CC BY-SA 3.0; photo on the right: giant stitch (lat. Gyromitra gigas), photo author: Vavrin, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Another difference between mushrooms is the place of growth. The line is most often found under and. Morels should be collected in thickets of willow, alder, groves and aspen forests, but not under trees, but in clearings.
By the way, people often call false morel (lat. Gyromitra esculenta) (pictured). But his hat is easy to distinguish from those described above external signs. Photo credit: Koongo940 (Fréderic Coune), CC BY-SA 3.0
Is it possible to eat morels and how to cook them correctly?
In practice, morels belong to the group of conditionally edible mushrooms of the 3rd quality category. This means that you can eat them, but not raw, but after proper pre-treatment. The fact is that morels contain harmful helwellic acid, which has hepatotropic and hemolytic effects. Therefore, these mushrooms cannot be consumed raw. Before cooking, they need to be washed well and scalded with boiling water. Then the mushrooms are boiled in salted water for 10 minutes. From high temperature the poison is not destroyed, but turns into a decoction: it must be drained, and the mushrooms must be squeezed out and washed several times. hot water. Only after this can you start preparing morel dishes. They can be boiled, stewed or fried, but in any case it is advisable not to consume more than 200 grams of morels per day.
Mushrooms can be dried in the sun: direct sunlight destroys toxins. Dried morels are stored in a dry container. And if frozen, they can be kept in the freezer for up to a year.
Only young morels can be collected and eaten. Old Not edible mushrooms easy to identify by its color change: with age, the morel cap becomes almost black (see photo). Photo credit: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0
Types of morels, names and photos
- Edible morel (ordinary, real) (lat. Morchella esculenta) - conditionally edible mushroom. Grows in mixed, coniferous and deciduous forests temperate latitudes Northern Hemisphere - in Eurasia (up to Japan) and North America, and is also found in Australia and on the island of Tasmania.
Its cap is ovoid, narrow, elongated upward, with rounded, honeycomb-shaped cells of varying sizes. Its height reaches 3-7 cm, diameter - 3-6 cm. The color of the cap is brown or ocher-brown. The ribs are lighter than the inner part of the cells. The stem of the common morel has a height of 3-9 cm and a diameter of 2.5-3.5 cm. It is white, widened at the base, and longitudinally wrinkled. With age, the stem acquires a yellowish or creamy tint; in a fully ripe mushroom, it becomes gray and velvety. The cap of this type of morel is completely fused at the edges with the stem: by this feature, the mushroom can be distinguished from a morel cap that is similar in appearance. The fruit body is hollow inside. The flesh of the mushroom is white, waxy, very brittle and thin. It has a pleasant smell and vague taste. Edible morels are rare, although they are the most common species of the genus.
- Conical morel, smarzhok (lat. Morchella conica) – category III mushroom (with average taste), conditionally edible. It is found more often in pine, sometimes in deciduous forests, on forest clearings, among bushes and even outside the forest, sometimes in the tundra, gardens and parks Central Asia, grows in the Tien Shan to an altitude of 2600 m above sea level.
Conical morels, like strings, appear in April-May, occasionally in June. Outwardly they look like the common morel. The mushroom cap has a diameter of up to 5 and a height of up to 10 cm. It is conical, less often ovoid, the edges fused with the stem, brown or yellow-brown, with a mesh-cellular surface. The cells are somewhat elongated. The leg is up to 5 cm long and up to 2 cm thick, cylindrical, sometimes narrowed at the base, white or slightly yellow with longitudinal grooves. The morel pulp is waxy, thin, and brittle. Morels of this species grow well where there is carrion. Knowing this, some gardeners plant them around old ones. Some classifications do not distinguish this species as an independent species, classifying it as an edible morel.
- Tall morel (lat. Morchella elata) – conditionally edible, quite rare mushroom, externally similar to both previous types, but different more dark color And large size fruiting body. The edges of its cells stand out especially. They are dark brown in color, in contrast to the olive brown interior of the honeycomb. The height of the cap is 4-10 cm, the diameter is 3-5 cm. The inside is close to triangular or diamond shape cells have limiting, narrow, horizontal folds. With age, the color of the entire cap darkens and becomes brown. The leg is 5-15 cm high and 3-4 cm in diameter, thickened at the top, and has a white granular surface. With age, the color of the leg changes to yellow-brown or yellow.
Tall morels grow in forests of all types on fertile soil, on fires, forest edges, in sandy and mossy places. In Russia they are found everywhere except in the north. In Europe they are considered a delicacy.
- Semi-free morel, or hybrid (lat. Mitrophora semilibera, syn . Morchella semilibera) – a conditionally edible mushroom, common in the Rhineland region of Germany and included in the Red Book of Poland.
The mushroom cap is bell-cone-shaped, with yellow-brown cells, irregularly rhombic in shape. The edges of the cells are darker, even black. The height of the cap reaches 2-3 cm, its diameter is 1.5-2.5 cm. It does not grow together with the stem, its edges are located freely. The leg is long (4-7 cm long and 1-1.5 cm in diameter), thickened at the base, yellow or white, with a grooved or smooth granular surface. The flesh of the mushroom is white, fragile, waxy, and has no special taste or aroma.
You need to look for hybrid morels in May in deciduous and mixed forests, in parks, groves and gardens, in grass or on bare soil.
- Steppe morel (lat. . Morchella steppicola) - a conditionally edible mushroom and the largest morel growing in Russia, the total height of which can reach 25 cm and weight - 2 kg. It grows in open spaces: in the steppe and forest-steppe, especially where there is organic matter after grazing animals. Appears when the daytime temperature stops falling below + 15°C.
The cap of the steppe morel is spherical, 2-10 cm high and in diameter, grayish-brown, divided into sections inside. The edges of the cap are attached to a short white or cream stem, 1-2 cm high. The fruiting bodies develop very quickly and live only 5-7 days. In conditions of wet spring, which comes after a snowy winter, there are a lot of mushrooms, they form “witch circles”. In dry years, steppe morels do not appear at all. The fruiting body of the mushroom is very dense, it has practically no internal cavity, and its cap is covered with numerous small cells. The pulp is elastic, white, soft.
The mushroom is found in Central Asia, Russia, Poland, and Germany. Earth or sand is filled into its small cells, from which the morel mushroom must be cleaned. It is recommended to rinse it after boiling and cut it lengthwise into 2 halves before cooking.
- Thick-legged morel (lat. Morchella crassipes) – a rare conditionally edible mushroom, listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. This is a fairly large mushroom, the total height of which reaches 23.5 cm. Its cap is cylindrical, broadly ovoid, conical or oval, yellow-gray or olive-brown, 5-8.5 (maximum 12) cm high, 3-5 ( maximum 10) cm. In a mature state, the cap grows to the stem. The cap cells are rough, with ragged reddish-brown ribs. The leg is yellowish-white, with uneven longitudinal grooves, hilly and thickened in the lower part, similar to the exposed roots of a tree. The height of the stem is 4-17 cm, the diameter is 4-8 cm. The pulp is brittle, white, waxy, pleasant to the taste.
Thick-legged morels grow in North America, Western and Central Europe in deciduous forests on fertile soils.
- The morel is round, or yellow (lat. . Morchella rotunda) - a conditionally edible mushroom with a total height of 12-20 cm. The cap is round-ovoid or round, 5.5-8.5 cm tall, 5-10 cm in diameter. The cells on it are located deep in the wavy and irregular ribs-folds. The color of the ribs is yellowish, the bottom and walls of the cells are brown-ocher. The leg is 7-12 cm high, 4-8 cm in diameter, white, with folds and thickening at the base, pubescent in the upper part, yellowing or browning with age. The pulp is white, brittle, with a pleasant taste.
The morel grows in the south of the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere and is found in the Crimea. Some classifications consider this species as a synonym for the species Morchella esculenta.
Stitches (lat. Gyromitra) is a genus of marsupial fungi that appears in early spring and in August-September. Their appearance is original: it resembles a crumpled sheet of brown paper or half a walnut. This does not contribute to the popularity of eating the lines as food, nor does the poison content. Toxins disappear during cooking or drying, so representatives of the genus Gyromitra are defined by scientists as conditionally edible. There is also information about the use of stitches in folk medicine.
Strows are a genus of marsupial mushrooms that appear in early spring and August-September
The fruit body of the line looks unattractive: it is chaotically dotted with deep wrinkles and clumsy folds. The entire mushroom, including the stem, is often asymmetrical. The surface of the cap is velvety in appearance. Its color can be varied: yellow-brown, brown and red-chestnut. The shade depends on the type and age of the mushroom, growing conditions and climate.
The lines inhabit the territory of Eurasia and North America, located in the Northern Hemisphere. The most “southern” specimens are registered in Mexico. Mushrooms prefer to grow in pine forests, where there are rotten stumps - source organic matter from decaying wood.
Experience proves that specimens growing in Western Europe, are more dangerous than the “natives” from the East. In Italy, due to the risk of severe poisoning, the sale of stitches has been declared illegal.
How to distinguish a poisonous stitch (video)
Types of stitches
Biologists have described 3 types of stitches. They are similar to each other, but differ in size, color, location and time of growth. Knowing this information, you can determine which species was collected.
Traditionally chooses pine forests (less often coniferous and mixed with big amount pine trees). Often prefers sandy and sandy loam soils, as well as burnt areas. The harvest time for the common line is April-May. IN different regions the onset of fruiting differs depending on climatic conditions: at warm spring mushrooms appear immediately after the snow melts.
Diameter of wrinkled cap Brown is from 2 to 10 cm, and its edges are fused with the leg, forming a bizarre “bag”, hollow inside. The leg itself is also dotted with folds and grooves, asymmetrical, often completely or partially immersed in the ground. It thickens closer to the ground, has a length of only 3 cm and is colored light colors, sometimes with a pink tone.
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Giant (Gyromitra gigas)
The giant line is similar to the ordinary one, but, as you might guess, it is different from it large sizes. Thus, the cap of some specimens grows up to 30 cm in diameter, although usually this figure is much smaller: 15–25 cm. The color of the mushroom also differs: in the “giant” it is lighter, often yellow-brown. Also a giant line, although it gravitates towards coniferous forests, feels great next to birch trees.
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Autumn (Gyromitra infula)
The autumn species differs from its counterparts primarily in the time of fruiting. It begins in July, August and September. It grows mainly in coniferous forests on the ground or rotting tree debris. The cap is 2–10 cm in diameter and has a saddle shape, often in the form of “horns” fused to each other. The color can be various shades of brown: from red-chestnut to dark. The stem is higher than that of other stitches: from 2 to 6 cm, although you can also find “overgrowths” with a stem of 10 cm.
Gyromitra unfula is not very popular among mushroom pickers: it is generally accepted that the autumn variety has a high concentration of toxic gyromitrins, which are difficult to destroy after prolonged processing. But there are also daredevils who use these lines for food. It is important not to forget: if you eat a mushroom raw, big risk end up in intensive care and die.
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Healing and beneficial properties of stitches
The main reason why stitches are used for medicinal purposes in the preparation of traditional medicine is the presence of the valuable polysaccharide CT-4 in the mushrooms. In its properties, this natural substance is similar in effect to chondroitin, which is an aminopolysaccharide.
The role of the latter in the human body is very important: it is a building material, a source of regeneration and nutrition for bone, connective and cartilage tissue. It is chondroitin that directly affects the elasticity of cartilage, because it regulates their ability to absorb moisture. Also stitches normalize local blood circulation, which is also useful for people with musculoskeletal diseases. Traditional healers claim that the mushroom helps with pulmonary diseases and inflammatory process in the pancreas.
About the taste and edibility of string mushrooms
There has been a debate for a long time: is the line poisonous or edible?. It is an undeniable fact that the composition contains gyromitrins - toxic substances that produce a hemolytic effect (destroying red blood cells) and inhibit the functioning of the central nervous system. nervous system and gastrointestinal tract, especially the liver. Therefore, raw stitches are deadly. The question of what percentage of toxic substances evaporates during processing remains open. Despite this, in some countries, including former USSR, mushrooms are eaten because the strings are pleasant to the taste and smell.
Features of collecting stitches (video)
Scope of application of stitches
Stitches are used in cooking and folk medicine. They are dried, canned and fried after boiling. For treatment, mushroom tincture with alcohol is used mainly. It is used both internally and externally.
How to prepare stitches correctly
There are 2 ways to prepare stitches for use and make them safer for humans:
- Digestion. After cleaning, cook the mushrooms for at least 20 minutes. Toxic gyromitrins are released into the water, so the decoction becomes poisonous. It must be poured out, and the lines are thoroughly washed in running tap water. Many mushroom pickers repeat the procedure twice to be safe. Then they can be fried and canned, like other mushrooms.
- Drying. In its process, gyromitrins evaporate from the fruiting bodies. True, for the poisons to completely disappear from the mushroom, it will take either 6 months or the catalytic effect of high temperatures.
Scientists say that neither method makes the stitches as safe as edible mushrooms. It is very important to cook them correctly and eat them in moderation, making sure there are no contraindications. If your health worsens, you need to call an ambulance and tell the doctor about the meal.
Mushrooms stitching in medicine
Stitches are used topically for diseases of the musculoskeletal system. It's about about common arthritis, osteochondrosis, radiculitis, etc. The polysaccharide helps relieve inflammation and tissue regeneration.
For bronchitis and pneumonia, the tincture is used as a liquid to rub the patient's chest. The liquid can also be taken orally for diseases of the pancreas, a few drops per day (the dosage is prescribed by the treating specialist).
How to distinguish stitches from morels
At first glance, stitches and morels are very similar, having a wrinkled and baggy appearance. But the shape of morels is ovoid or conical, while the lines have irregular shape, similar to a walnut. The pattern on the morel cap often resembles a honeycomb, and in Gyromitra it is chaotic, with numerous and deep convolutions.
How to cook a casserole from stitches (video)
Contraindications and harm of stitches
- minors;
- pregnant and lactating women;
- persons with individual intolerance;
- patients with diseases of the cardiovascular system;
- patients with gastrointestinal diseases.
It is better to start “tasting” the lines with a minimum portion in order to assess their effect on well-being. In 99% of cases, if prepared incorrectly, symptoms of severe poisoning appear: epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, fainting.
Lines - spring and autumn - are not the simplest mushrooms. They require attention and a special approach. You can eat them only at your own peril and risk, which stops many mushroom pickers.
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