Spring mushrooms (photo). What are the names of the first spring mushrooms?

When does the first spring mushroom appear? Of course, every year - in different ways. However, there are some general patterns that experienced mushroom pickers notice. Spring mushrooms appear immediately after the soil is thawed. After the snow falls, as the upper layer of the earth warms up, the mycelium begins to revive and develop. In the central part of Russia, this occurs around the end of April.

Who is the first?

The first to appear are poisonous mushrooms of small size. For sure, every attentive person paid attention to thin, plain mushrooms, which can be found in forests, fields and even in the garden during the first spring warm days. Leaves on the trees are not there yet, the green grass only begins to appear, and the toadstools can already be found. Of course, they are not suitable for food.

Which first spring mushrooms are edible?

Edible mushrooms begin to appear a little later. In the southern regions of the country, they can be found at the very end of April, in the central and northern regions - in the beginning or in the middle of May. Going to collect spring mushrooms, you must always remember about caution. At this time, a huge number of poisonous and so-called "false" mushrooms, which can easily be confused with edible. So, what are the names of the first spring mushrooms that can be eaten? Of course, it's morels.

More about morels

This spring mushrooms are edible. For example, in the suburbs, they are already beginning to be considered a rarity. You can not meet them in every forest. There is an opinion that they are gradually disappearing. In our country and in Europe, morels are known as edible since the middle of the XVI century. Their detailed description can be seen in European books on botany and Russian herbalists.

They appear alone or in groups in forests, parks, they can be found in gardens and orchards. They grow next to deciduous trees: poplar, aspen, alder, etc. These spring mushrooms are found during the flowering of fruit crops. There are morels of different types:

• Ordinary morel;
• round;
• conical;
• Navy hat, etc.

Here is a description of the most common morels.

Common shark

The height of the cap is 8 cm, the thickness is 6 cm. The egg itself is ovoid, the edges are fused with a foot. Inside, the bonnet is hollow, outside it is covered with small irregularly shaped pits that resemble cells of honeycombs. Its color is brown or yellowish brown. The foot has a length of about 7 cm, a thickness of 2 cm, a hollow, cylindrical, whitish-yellow color. The flesh is thin, brittle, waxy.

Conical morel

The height of the cap is up to 6 cm, the thickness is up to 5 cm. Outer conical is sometimes ovate, its edges grow together with the foot. Inside the hat is hollow, there are elongated cells on the surface. Its color is dark brown or gray-yellow-brown. The length of the stem is up to 5 cm, its thickness is up to 2 cm. Cylindrical, hollow, painted white or slightly yellowish in color. Its flesh is thin, brittle, waxy.

Smarch hat

The height of the cap is up to 6 cm, width is up to 5 cm. Its appearance is bell-shaped, resembling a thimble. Outside, it is wrinkled, with unattached edges to the foot, has numerous longitudinal folds. Color brown or yellow. Leg length up to 15 cm, thickness up to 3 cm. Color white or cream. The pedicle itself is cylindrical, initially inside the cotton-like, later becomes hollow. The flesh is brittle, waxy.

Poisonous morels?

These spring mushrooms, photos of which can be seen in this article, do not contain poisonous substances. These are quite valuable forest gifts, in great demand in the west. For example, in the US they are considered one of the best. In the States, morels stand out against other fungi and their cost, which often exceeds $ 150 per kg. So you should not be afraid of them - these spring mushrooms are edible.

Given that the morels can be confused with the lines (we'll talk about them later), it's necessary to heat them before eating them. Boil them for 15-20 minutes, then change the water and repeat the process. Then they need to be washed with cold water, and then fry or cook, not being afraid for your health. All toxic toxins pass from the fungus to the water when boiling.

Lines

In Russia, you can find two of them: ordinary and giant. Lines in the forests can be seen much more often, they are more tenacious and undemanding to external conditions. Like morels, they grow under deciduous trees, and also like to settle near rotting trunks, branches and stumps. Distinct lines of bulky caps of irregular shape, on which there are deep convolutions. Their legs are also sinuous and powerful, painted in a grayish white color. The hat can be ocherous, light brown or yellowish brown.

Edible lines?

Russian specialists consider these mushrooms to be conditionally edible. In other words, they are suitable for food, but only after boiling. As for experts from the west, they believe that the lines are classified as poisonous. This is due to the recorded cases of severe poisoning by these fungi, some of which resulted in death. There were all these cases because people used lines in their food in raw form, like morels.

In fact, these fungi do contain toxic toxins that are destroyed by heat treatment. Our mushroom pickers recommend repeated processing of stitches. Repeated boiling of these fungi leads to the destruction of toxins, which minimizes the risk of poisoning. Of course, we do not recommend collecting these fungi to inexperienced people who do not know how to handle them properly.

Safety precautions

First, if a person decides to try the lines, then he should follow all the rules listed above. Secondly, if there is any doubt that everything has been done correctly, it is better to refuse them. In addition, if it is difficult for an inexperienced mushroom picker to distinguish a line from a morel, then you should not collect them yourself. It is not recommended to buy mushrooms in the market or from strangers. Among them there may be poisonous specimens, and it is not known where they were collected. If mushrooms grew near the road or in places with an unfavorable ecology, then in this case even morels can harm the health.

Pozza orange

This is another first spring mushroom. It is a bright small orange mushroom. Young specimens are similar to bowls, in the future they become flat, resembling saucers and saucers. In the people they are called saucers. These fungi are relatives of morels and lines. They grow right on the ground, along forest trails and on the fringes. They often appear on the spot where there were fires earlier.

Can I eat them?

Orange peppers are edible spring mushrooms, unlike their brown counterparts. They practically do not have a smell, and there is no taste at all. They are often used for pickling along with mushroom assortment, as they give it a brightness. They can be fried, boiled, true, they lose their color, but they keep it in pickled form. These spring mushrooms, photos of which can be seen in this article, are often used to decorate various salads and dishes. Dried mushrooms are turned into a powder and added to seasonings and sauces to give them an orange color.

And finally, once again, we recall that for security reasons, morels and stitches should be boiled twice before eating. And the peppers are edible only bright orange. All shades of brown and gray colors indicate the virulence of the fungus. Be careful and walk into the forest only accompanied by experienced mushroom pickers.