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Even in the most lean years in the forest, it is not so difficult to find mushrooms with waves on their caps. Most often it is pink and white, although there are other colors. Because of its pungent milky juice, representatives of this variety are considered conditionally edible in many European countries, while in Russia they are happily consumed in salted form, after preliminary preparation.
To get a tasty and healthy product, you need to know where they grow, when they collect white waves and how to distinguish them from pink ones and from false doubles.
Are there white waves
The closest relatives of the Volushka are russula. In appearance, they resemble saffron milk caps, only they have a different color, and the edges are wrapped and velvety. There are several subspecies that differ in color, but their taste is almost the same.
In addition to the white variety of waves, there are:
- pink, or volzhanka;
- yellow, or wave;
- gray, or gray milky.
The most popular are pink and white waves. The former are common throughout Russia. Belyanka, or white mushroom, grows in large quantities in Siberia.
What does a white woman look like
The white mushroom is a conditionally edible species. Belyanka is a milkman who secretes juice that tastes bitter and acrid, which does not change it in the air. In general, the flesh is not very tough, white, under the skin is slightly pinkish, not crumbling like a russula. The waves are salted according to the general rules for the species: useful and taste qualities are in no way inferior in their characteristics to pink, yellow and gray varieties.
According to the photo and description, the white wave has a less attractive appearance than the pink one - its leg is writhing, and its color is light fawn. This makes it look dirty. There is a light fluff on the edge of the cap. Such a surface is a distinctive feature of all types of waves. Mushroom pickers note that the whitewash emits a slight smell of geranium, grows next to birches, forming mycorrhiza with them.
Description of the hat
As you can see in the photo, the whitewash mushroom has a funnel-shaped cap, its diameter reaches 4 cm in young specimens, up to 12 cm in old ones. At first, it is convex, has a dense pubescence, especially along the edges, which are strongly curved inward.
Later, the cap increases in size, a depression appears in its center, the edges gradually unfold. The skin does not have a ring-like pattern like other subspecies.In the center, the shade is slightly darker than at the edges. The pulp is white, brittle, with a pungent milky juice and a pungent taste, its smell is light, pleasant.
The plates of the cap are frequent, narrow, adherent, at first they are white, and in adult fruiting bodies they are yellowish. Spore powder - ocher color.
During the rain, the white wave becomes slimy and not very beautiful.
Leg description
Judging by the photo and description, the whitewash mushroom in its adult state has a leg about 4 cm long and 2 cm in diameter. Its shape is cylindrical, the surface may be slightly pubescent, but most often with a smooth skin. Young fruiting bodies have a dense structure. Later, at a more mature age, their leg becomes hollow and very fragile. Its shades change over time from white and pinkish to yellowish-dirty color.
From this part of the mushroom, as well as from the cap, white acrid milky juice is also abundantly released, especially on the break.
The shape of the stem depends on the place where the fruit bodies grow. In open spaces, it is very short - about 3 cm. In white wines grown in tall grass, it is long - 8 - 10 cm. Instances with short legs are most often narrowed towards the base.
Is the white wave edible or not
Opinions about the edibility of the white wave differ. Some mushroom pickers are happy to collect them, others consider them inedible and leave them in the forest. In the keys and reference books that are used in Western Europe, whites are classified as poisonous mushrooms that are prohibited from collection and consumption, since they lead to gastrointestinal disorders. In Russia, the white wave is harvested and, after appropriate processing, is used for food.
Raw mushrooms are bitter because of the milky juice. To get rid of the bitterness, pink waves and whites are soaked, after which they are salted. These are conditionally edible mushrooms that require additional heat treatment, so they are classified in the second category.
According to a 10-point assessment of nutritional, taste and aesthetic qualities, white waves received 6.2 points, and even in the USSR they were approved by the GOST for harvesting.
How to process whites before cooking
White waves are not suitable for making soups or frying, but they are great for salting. Soaking helps to get rid of the bitterness of milky juice. For this purpose, the whites are immersed in cold salt water for several hours, having previously cleared them of leaves, earth and debris. After that, the water is drained, then the raw materials are placed in hot salt water and boiled for half an hour. The first water should be drained and boiled for 15 minutes in a new one. After such heat treatment, you can start salting or pickling white waves strictly according to the recipe.
Where the whites grow
On the territory of Russia, white women can be found in the Central and North-Western regions, in Siberia, in the Urals and the North Caucasus. Waves live only in symbiosis with birch, forming mycorrhiza with it. The fungus helps the tree to assimilate salts and minerals, while it absorbs the organic ones synthesized by the birch. Thanks to this union, the white wave grows mainly in birch groves, but it can also be found in mixed forests. It is located not far from mushrooms and aspen mushrooms. The white wave prefers sunny places, so most often it can be found at the edges or at the entrance to the forest.
White women like to grow up in families in wet, swampy areas, so in rainy years, their maximum yield is observed, provided that the weather is warm. The age of the birches, around which the mushrooms are located, does not matter. They can also be found in a very young birch forest.
When the whites are collected
The time for collecting white waves begins in August and lasts until the end of September or mid-October, depending on when the frosts begin. In the first half of summer, it is very difficult to find a whitewash.
Most often, a rich harvest of white waves is divided into two stages. The first collection takes place in August, the second in September.
During the "quiet hunt", you should pay attention to what gets into the basket. You can get advice from experienced mushroom pickers or consider in a photo guide what a white wave looks like after reading about its distinctive features. And, although the whites do not have poisonous twins, it is worth abandoning the mushroom if its origin raises even the slightest doubt.
How to distinguish white waves from false ones
Mushrooms, similar to whites and volnushki, are their counterparts and belong to the milky, whose cap is pinkish and may have reddish rings. The edge is absent. The fruit body of the whitewash is small, its juiciness is small.
There are several edible lactic acid counterparts.
Ordinary
The hat of an ordinary representative is shiny. At first it is convex and gray-gray, later it becomes flat, brown, purple or yellow. The edges of the mushroom are rounded, the stem is cylindrical. Milky sap is greenish.
Faded milky
The hat of this double is lilac, gray or white, has a bulge, is depressed in the center and somewhat darker than at the edges. The leg is light, slightly curved.
Brownish
This variety has a cap that is velvety to the touch, brown or chocolate-colored. Its shape gradually changes from convex to concave. At the break, the flesh turns pink and has a slight fruit aroma.
Brown
The hat of this type is convex, chestnut or brown, it can be almost black. Later, concavity appears on it. The leg is the same color as the cap. Milky sap is not pungent.
Gigroforoid
The hat of this double is dry, brown with a brown tinge. The hygrophoroid mushroom is characterized by the fragility of its white flesh.
Burning milky
This variety has a damp, mucus-covered cap. Its pulp is gray, dense, with a mushroom aroma, and it tastes hot.
Prickly
The color of the cap changes from pink to brown, there are red scales. The pulp is white, yellow or green. The smell is absent, the taste is characterized as spicy. The edible mushrooms of the whitetail and false whites differ in size and appearance. False mushrooms are no bigger than a chicken's egg, and they have a depression in the center of the cap.
Sticky
The hat of this representative has a gray-green color with dark spots. Its leg is sticky, lighter than the cap. The pulp is odorless, white, at the break - green.
Hepatic
The mushroom has a smooth, funnel-shaped brown cap. Its pulp is acrid, light brown. Milky sap turns yellow in air.
In order not to be mistaken in the choice during mushroom picking, you should thoroughly study the photo and description of white and false waves, compare them and remember the main differences.
What is the difference between pink waves and whites
In order not to confuse the white and pink waves, it is worth remembering that they have several differences:
- different color of hats - white and pink;
- the white woman does not have concentric circles;
- the white variety grows in damp places, the pink variety prefers dry;
- the whitewash is more squat in shape and has a dense structure.
Useful properties and contraindications
Due to the rich chemical composition, white women have a beneficial effect on the body: vitamin A is useful for people with vision problems, the rich composition of trace elements helps prevent diseases of the cardiovascular system, strengthen blood vessels, and lower cholesterol levels. The benefits of the minerals in the composition of the waves are also in improving the functions of the brain, strengthening the nervous system, and fighting overwork.
Video-story of mushroom pickers, what else are white women good for:
The use of whites should be limited to people with a removed gallbladder, because even in the absence of bitterness after processing, the composition of the milky juice does not change.
Mushrooms are contraindicated for use in pancreatitis, cholecystitis and low acidity, children under seven years of age, pregnant and lactating women.
Conclusion
The white wave is quite caustic due to the milky juice present in it. But after processing, carried out according to all the rules, it loses its bitterness, becomes tasty and aromatic. Belyanka is easy and interesting to collect. With a detailed study of its distinctive features, the mushroom is difficult to confuse with false doubles, and in the process of collecting problems never arise.
