Mushroom float - description, use

Did you know that not all the representatives of the fly agaric family are poisonous? An example can be a mushroom float, a photo and a description of which are given in the article. It does not have any value for the chefs, but he has good prospects in terms of application in medicine, so consider it in more detail.

Appearance

Every lover of quiet hunting, even an inexperienced one, knows that it is necessary to avoid mushrooms on a thin stalk with a pale hat - they can be poisonous. But the mushroom float is edible, although it looks unattractive and even dangerous. Its description boils down to the following:

• Fruit body - small size.
• Leg - thin, weak, fragile, has a cylindrical shape, slightly widening downwards. Most often painted in dirty white or grayish color, can be the same color as the hat. Sometimes covered with an unexpressed pattern of scales, to the touch smooth or with a slight touch of gentle flakes.
• Hat - can be of different shapes: semi-ovoid, flat as a plate, or wide-conical, always slightly feeble and has a very thin furrowed edge. Mostly whitish or gray, a mushroom float with a brown or reddish hat is rare. Its surface is shiny, smooth and mostly dry, sometimes covered with sticky slime.
• The flesh is thin, brittle, friable, white, which does not change on the cut.

This representative of the fly-agaric family looks so unappetizing and unprepossessing, but unlike their poisonous brethren with a red hat on the white dot, the mushroom float does not have a characteristic ringlet on the leg. This is the main difference, according to which connoisseurs determine that in front of them is a conditionally edible mushroom.

Application

I must say that, in addition to the repulsive appearance, and the taste of this small mushroom leaves much to be desired: fresh, with a slight bitter aftertaste, it attracts very few. The fungus does not have a smell at all. Is this "miracle" comparable to a fragrant and nutritious mushroom or tasty chanterelles? In addition, it is difficult to collect, transport, process and prepare it because of extreme fragility and fragility. Therefore, mushroom pickers and cooks are not respected, except that there is absolutely no harvest ... Nevertheless, the mushroom float can still be cooked, dried and even marinated.

It is interesting that this member of the fly-agaric family in large quantities contains a substance such as betaine. In medicine, this chemical compound is used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, breast cancer, prostate adenoma, obesity, liver diseases and bile ducts.

Kinds

There are four types of this fungus:

• White float (var.alba) - has a pure white color and legs, and hats, is less common than other species, the yield is low, differs by a small tubercle in the center of the cap, which never grows more than 8-10 cm in diameter.
• Gray (var. Vaginata) - occurs more often than others. As a rule, this mushroom float is a loner, very rarely there are three or more gray floats nearby. As the name suggests, it is painted in gray in various shades: from light to very dark. A small hat (up to 10 cm in diameter) is similar to a bell with a tubercle in the middle, along its edges there are small scars.
• Lead-gray (var. Plumbea) - very similar to the gray appearance, but still biologists distinguish it separately. The hat is leaden with a light blue tinge.
• Olive green, or saffron (var. olivaceoviridis) - a distinctive characteristic of this species is a cap of light olive color or with a reddish tint.

All these species are very similar in form, they are most easily distinguished by the color of the cap and stem.

Where it grows

Mushroom float, a photo of which is in the article, can be found across the vast territory of Russia. He prefers light deciduous forests, but grows both in mixed and dark coniferous plantations, less often in the forest-steppe and in the marshes. In the mountains it settles at any height. With favorable weather fructifies from the middle of May to the end of October, although none of its variety is distinguished by good harvests. Unpretentious to external conditions, the mycelium tolerates both winter frosts and summer heat with drought. It is revived even after forest fires.

Different species of this fungus prefer different habitats. For example, a white float was chosen by light birch forests and rare woods. The gray variety is well-behaved in dense grass under oaks and birches, often found on the outskirts of lakes and forest marshes. The lead-gray kind hides in the shadow of thick oak forests. Saffron mushroom (olive green) is most often found in wet swampy terrain.

Danger

Mushroom float refers to conditionally edible mushrooms. This means that you can consume it in food, but it still contains toxins, and if improperly prepared, it can cause severe poisoning, even with a fatal outcome. But this is not the main danger of the fungus float. The most difficult thing is that outwardly it is very similar to the deadly poisonous fly agarics, smelly and pale toadstools, with which it is easily confused. Therefore, given the low nutritional value of this species, it is best to bypass it.