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The black float is a conditionally edible mushroom of the Amanitovye family, the Amanita genus, the Float subgenus. Known in literature as Amanita pachycolea and black pusher. On the Pacific coast of North America, where it was studied by mycologists, it is called the western grisette.
What a black float looks like
The species is widespread on different continents, its representatives emerge from the ground under a blanket, a Volvo. In an adult mushroom, it is visible as a shapeless sac enveloping the base of the leg. The fruiting body breaks the veil with a convex oval of the cap with a smooth, shiny skin, it resembles an egg.
Description of the hat
The hat, as it grows, reaches 7-20 cm, becomes flat, with a small tubercle in the center. The skin of young specimens is sticky, dark brown in color. At the beginning of growth it appears black, then gradually brightens, especially the edges, which are clearly distinguished by dense parallel scars. So the plates shine through through the thin pulp.
The skin is black, smooth, glossy, occasionally with white flakes, the remains of the bedspread. Below the plates are free, not attached to the stem, very often located, white or white-gray. In old mushrooms, they have brown spots. The mass of spores is whitish.
The pulp is fragile, thin. The original color remains on the cut, there may be a discoloration to gray at the edge. The smell is almost imperceptible.
Leg description
The cap rises on a hollow or solid leg up to 10-20 cm in height, the thickness is from 1.5 to 3 cm. The leg is even, straight, slightly tapering towards the top, at the bottom there is no thickening, like in other fly agarics. The surface is smooth or slightly pubescent with small white scales, then becomes grayish or brown as it grows. The ring is missing. At the base of the leg is the saccular lower part of the bedspread.
Where and how it grows
At this time, the black species is found only on the west coast of North America - in Canada and the United States. Although mycologists believe that the fungus can spread to other places over time.
Amanita muscaria creates mycorrhiza with coniferous trees, found in mixed and deciduous forests. The species was described in the 80s of the last century. Fruit bodies grow singly or in small families, ripen from October to the beginning of winter.
Is the mushroom edible or not
Since all representatives of the subgenus are considered conditionally edible and belong to the fourth category for nutritional properties, they are rarely harvested. Even the gray floats common in Russia are not often taken: the fruit bodies are very fragile, and, once at the bottom of the basket, they turn into dust.
Doubles and their differences
The black look is similar to the types common in European countries:
- gray float, or pusher;
- pale toadstool.
Considering that the black float has now been studied as an endemic to the North American continent, the mushrooms found in Russia are somewhat different.
Striking differences between the black float and other types:
- dark color of the skin on the cap;
- the color of the pulp at the break does not change under the influence of air;
- the cap is framed with ribs;
- on the North American continent bears fruit in autumn.
Features of doubles:
- the gray pusher has a light gray skin on the cap;
- meet in the forests of Russia from mid-summer to September;
- a pale toadstool has a whitish-yellow cap;
- there is a ring on the leg.
Conclusion
The black float can hardly be found in Russian forests. Nevertheless, it is better to know the signs of the fungus in advance, so as not to be confused with toxic twins.
