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It is very easy to recognize the boletus mushroom from the photo; it has become one of the most famous and widespread in Russia. However, not everyone knows about its varieties and features.
Why is the mushroom called boletus
Another name for the boletus is the redhead, it is also known as the boletus, aspen and leccinum. But much more often it is called the aspen, and the reason is that it usually grows under the trunks of aspens, forming a symbiosis with the roots of these trees.
It should be noted that in fact, aspen can grow under other trees - birches and oaks, pines and spruces. Sometimes it is fashionable to meet him in glades and forest edges not far from any trees. But this rarely happens, most often the mushroom grows near aspens.
What does boletus look like?
In fact, the boletus is not called one specific mushroom, but several varieties belonging to the same genus. Therefore, different aspen mushrooms can differ significantly in appearance - in color, in size, in shades of the leg and in taste.
There are several common features characteristic of aspen trees of any species:
- The cap of the boletus, or leccinum, is noticeably convex at a young age, and in an adult it straightens, but remains pillow-like and dense. The diameter may vary, but the average is about 15 cm.
- Below, the cap of the mushrooms is covered with small pores-tubes of a beige, yellowish, reddish hue.
- The leg of the aspen tree is strong, usually with a thickening in the lower part, up to 10-15 cm in height. Sometimes the stem is fibrous, sometimes it can be covered with small scales, similar to boletus scales.
- The skin on the surface of the cap boletus is usually smooth or slightly velvety, not slippery or sticky, like many other mushrooms.
- A distinctive feature, noticeable in the photo and description of the boletus when cut, is the rapid darkening of the pulp to a blue, purple or almost black hue.
Where does the boletus grow
The redhead mushroom is very common on the territory of Russia, therefore it is widely known. It grows throughout the entire middle zone and in a temperate climate - in the European part of Russia, in Siberia, in the Far East, in the southern regions.
Aspen can be found in deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests, next to trees and on forest edges or glades. Mushrooms prefer moist soils and shady areas, often found in fern thickets and in mosses.
The most massive fruiting of the redhead begins in August and continues until the end of September. However, the first boletus can be found in June, and they come across in the forest until the first frost.
What mushrooms does the boletus belong to?
The scientific name for aspen is Leccinum, or Leccinum. Also, in common parlance, a mushroom is called a lump.Quite a few varieties of mushrooms from the Boletov family are combined under the name of aspen. Despite different photos and descriptions of aspen mushrooms, all of them, one way or another, are suitable for human consumption - there are no poisonous species among them.
Boletus varieties
In order to harvest a good harvest in early autumn and not pass by delicious, but unusual mushrooms, it is worthwhile to study in more detail all types of boletus mushrooms. Sometimes they are completely different from each other, but, nevertheless, they belong to the same genus.
Red boletus
It is this mushroom that is most often meant when they talk about the boletus, or redhead. It grows in Siberia, the middle zone, the Caucasus and the Far East, it is found everywhere in deciduous forests under aspen, oak, beech and birch.
The mushroom is easy to recognize in the photo of an autumn boletus by a cap about 10 cm in diameter, bright red or reddish-brown in color. The leg of the red aspen is light beige, but covered with gray-white scales. Because of this, the mushroom resembles a boletus, but its cap is much brighter.
Yellow-brown boletus
This mushroom is also very common in Russia, but it can be found mainly in temperate climates, in the north and south it is rare. It grows mainly under aspen and birch trees, but can also be found in pine and spruce forests. A yellow-brown aspen tree, or a different-skinned lump, can be recognized by its large size - the cap reaches 15 cm in diameter, and the mushroom can rise up to 25 cm above the ground.
The color of the yellow-brown butt is sandy-red or brownish-yellow, the leg is usually gray with characteristic black-brown scales.
White boletus
The unusual mushroom grows mainly in Siberia and in the northwest on moist soils in mixed forests - under aspen, spruce and birch trees. You can recognize it by its large hat, up to 25 cm in diameter in adulthood, and by its characteristic color.
In young fruit bodies, the cap is almost white, but with age it darkens slightly and acquires a brownish-gray tint. The leg of the white aspen tree is also light, covered with small whitish scales.
Oak boletus
The oak boletus is widespread in the temperate climate of the Northern Hemisphere. As the name implies, it grows most often in mixed and deciduous forests under oak trees. You can recognize the mushroom by the large cushion-shaped cap of coffee-brown color with a slight orange tint. The oak leg is beige, covered with brownish-reddish scales.
Dyed boletus
The unusual mushroom looks little like other aspen mushrooms. His cap is more often than that of other mushrooms, it is flattened, while he has an uncharacteristic pinkish skin color. There are also pink or reddish scales on the leg of the colored-footed aspen tree. Fruit bodies are rather small in size. Photos of small aspen mushrooms show mushrooms up to an average of 10 cm in height and 6-11 cm in diameter.
Most of all, the dyed-footed bobtail is common in North America and Asia. In Russia, it can be found quite rarely and mainly in the Far East or in Eastern Siberia.
Pine boletus
Obbok of this species grows in temperate coniferous forests throughout Eurasia. Most often, the mushroom is found under the pine trees, it can also come across under the fir trees. Pine aspen is characterized by a dark crimson cap up to 15 cm in diameter, and the leg is covered with brown scales.
Black-scale boletus
Black-scaly edgewise has quite standard sizes for the species - about 15 cm in width and height, rarely more. The cap of the mushroom can be dark red, reddish or brick in color, and the leg is covered with reddish scales, but from a distance it seems dark gray, almost black.If you damage the leg, it will quickly turn black or take on a purple hue.
Spruce boletus
This mushroom does not come across in Russia very often, but it is common throughout the entire middle zone. You can find it in mixed and coniferous forests, where spruces grow, mainly spruce aspen grows in groups, but sometimes it comes across alone.
The spruce boletus has a dark brown, chestnut cap and a light leg covered with brownish scales. Like the rest of the limbs, it is quite edible, although it cannot boast of the same pleasant taste as the common redhead or yellow-brown aspen.
Boletus is edible or not
Despite the huge number of varieties, the boletus is known for being certainly suitable for human consumption. Poisonous mushrooms do not exist among redheads, although some species may be more or less tasty.
Since the aspen pulp does not contain toxic substances, it is not necessary to soak this mushroom before cooking. It is enough to clean it, remove the scales from the leg and cut it off at the bottom, and then rinse it under cold water and send it to boil in salted water. After cooking, the broth will need to be drained, and the boiled fruit bodies can be used for further processing.
In culinary use, aspen mushrooms are completely universal. They are equally well suited for frying, pickling and salting for the winter, in all dishes they delight with a pleasant taste and dense texture. That is why collecting a basket of redheads is considered good luck for a mushroom picker. Fruit bodies can be processed in any way and not spend much effort on their preparation.
Interesting Boletus Facts
Many interesting facts are connected with redhead mushrooms. Some of them are widely known, others are known only to experienced mushroom pickers:
- Aspen, or redhead, is a unique mushroom that does not have poisonous counterparts. Collecting it is especially recommended for novice mushroom pickers, since the photo of a red boletus is so recognizable that it simply cannot be confused with a toxic variety. Rarely, by mistake, it is mistaken only for a gall fungus, but even that does not harm health, but is simply unsuitable for food due to its bitter taste.
- The redhead's pulp contains a huge amount of valuable substances. Eating it is not only tasty, but also healthy. The high protein content in mushroom pulp deserves special mention - aspen dishes are in no way inferior to meat dishes in terms of their nutritional value.
Boletus boletus can be found in the forests throughout the warm season. There is even a special popular classification of mushrooms according to the timing of fruiting.
For example, yellow-brown and white aspen are called spikelets, since they come across mainly at the beginning of summer. Oak and black-scaled mushrooms appear en masse in July-August and are therefore called stubble fields. But ordinary redheads are called deciduous, since they are found in the forests from the beginning of September until the very frost.
Photo of a redhead mushroom (Boletus)
To better study the appearance of the boletus and its characteristic features, it is worth looking at the photo of these edible mushrooms.
Conclusion
Photos of the boletus mushroom can be very different from each other, since there are quite a few subspecies of the redhead. However, they are similar in structure and size and are all suitable for human consumption.
