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The gall fungus belongs to the Boletovye family, the Tilopil genus. It has a bitter taste and is considered inedible. It is called differently - bitter or false white.
Where does the gall mushroom grow?
It is found in the temperate climatic zone of Europe and North America. It grows mainly in coniferous forests, loves acidic soils. It settles at the base of trees, sometimes on rotting stumps. Fruiting sparsely from July to October. Caught in small groups or singly.
What does gorchak look like
A description of the gall fungus will help distinguish it from similar species. Its fruiting body consists of a cap and a stem. The pulp is thick, white, and soft. The gall fungus on the cut becomes pinkish or remains unchanged, the taste is very bitter, the smell is absent, it does not happen wormy.
The hymenophore is tubular. The spore-bearing layer is dense, with small adherent tubules. The color of the hymenium is white, then pink, with the growth of the fungus it becomes dirty pink, with pressure it turns red. The powder is pinkish. Spores are smooth, fusiform, colorless or grayish-pinkish.
The bitter mushroom has a rather dense leg and an elastic cap.
The cap of the bitterness gall fungus is first hemispherical, then hemispherical, in the old specimen it is spread. Its surface is dry to the touch, at first fibrous or velvety, then it becomes smooth. Slightly sticky in wet weather. The color is yellowish brown, yellowish brownish, light brown, creamy brown, gray ocher, gray brown or brown, less often dark brown or chestnut brown. The peel is difficult to separate. The size is from 4 to 10 cm in diameter, sometimes it grows up to 15 cm.
The length of the leg is up to 7 cm, the thickness is 1-3 cm. It is cylindrical or swollen at the base, brown or creamy-buffy, with a reticular pattern of the same or slightly darker color.
Is the gall mushroom edible or not
Inedible, but not all experts recognize a poisonous gall fungus. It is believed that it cannot be eaten because of its very bitter taste, which, when boiled, not only does not disappear, but also intensifies.
Information about its toxicity is found in foreign sources. Its pulp contains poisonous substances that are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and penetrate into the liver cells.
Appealing in appearance, but completely unfit for human consumption
How to tell a gall mushroom
It can be confused with mushrooms such as:
- white;
- flywheel;
- boletus (bronze, mesh);
- boletus.
Distinctive features of the gall fungus:
- The pulp is very bitter.
- The gall fungus turns pink in the context.
- When pressed, the tubes turn a dirty pink.
- The net pattern on the leg is almost the same in color, there are no scales.
- The skin on the cap is velvety even in a mature specimen.
White
It is considered the noble and most valuable edible mushroom. It has a marbled white pulp and high taste, does not change color during heat treatment. It differs from the gallbladder in a thicker leg with a pronounced clavate shape, a white (yellowish or olive) tubular layer, lack of bitterness, a lighter mesh pattern on the leg, pulp that does not change color at the break.
The cap of a young porcini mushroom is spherical, in an adult it is flat, lighter along the edge than in the middle. Color - from white to brown, depending on climatic conditions. The diameter can be from 5 to 25 cm and even more.
The most coveted find in the forest - boletus
Its leg is massive, widening downwards, barrel-shaped. Much of it is underground. Height - up to 20 cm, thickness - from 5 to 7 cm. Usually it is lighter than the cap: milky, light beige. A mesh pattern is clearly visible on it.
The pulp is thick, dense, white, does not darken at the break. The smell is pleasant, with nutty notes, enhanced by heat treatment and drying.
The spore powder is olive-brown. Fusiform spores.
It grows all over the world, except for Antarctica and Australia. It settles in coniferous or mixed forests near lichens and mosses. Fruiting from June to October. Productivity is high in moderately warm and humid weather, with night fogs. Does not like too much moisture, practically does not occur in swampy places. Appears in open areas in wet weather.
Mosswheel
Some types of mushrooms are similar in appearance to false white. The main differences are the color of the pulp and the spore-bearing layer. At the fault, they turn blue (bitterness - pink). The tubules are yellow or greenish-yellow (pinkish in the gallbladder). Flywheels are edible.
Gorchaks are easy to distinguish from mushrooms by their yellowish tubular layer.
Boletus mesh
Another similar edible species. Its other name is white oak / summer mushroom.
The cap of the boletus reticulum is first spherical, then cushion-shaped. The surface is velvety, in old specimens it cracks in dry weather, forming a peculiar pattern. The color can be different, but, as a rule, it is light: gray-brown, coffee, ocher, brownish. Size - from 8 to 25 cm.
The tubules are thin, loose, first white, then yellowish-green or olive. The powder is olive brown.
The reticulated boletus has a white spore-bearing layer with an olive tint
The height of the leg is from 10 to 25 cm, the thickness is from 2 to 7 cm. In young mushrooms it is cylindrical-clavate or clavate, in old ones it is usually cylindrical. The color is light hazel with a distinct brown mesh on top.
The pulp is spongy, dense, springy when squeezed. The color is white; it does not change at the fault. The smell is pleasant mushroom, the taste is sweetish.
The earliest of the boletus. Begins to bear fruit in May, appears until October in periods. Found in deciduous forests, prefers oaks, hornbeams, beeches, lindens. It grows in warm climates, most often in hilly areas.
Bronze bolette
Other names for this edible mushroom are bronze / dark chestnut boletus.
The cap grows up to 7-17 cm in diameter. In young mushrooms it is almost black in color, in mature mushrooms it is rich brown, the shape is at first hemispherical, then it becomes flat with raised edges. The surface is dry, velvety, with small cracks in old mushrooms.
Bronze boletus has a dark hat
The stem is cylindrical, massive, thicker at the base. Height - up to 12 cm, thickness - from 2 to 4 cm. Covered with a fine mesh, which is almost white at first, acquires a beige color with age.
The tubules are thin, small, adherent. The color of the spore-bearing layer is white, gradually turns yellow, and becomes greenish when pressed. The spores are long, large, fusiform, olive-colored in mass.
In a young specimen, the flesh is thick, firm, in the old it becomes soft. The color is white, it darkens a little on the cut. The smell and taste of mushroom, pleasant, unexpressed.
It is rare, grows in mixed forests, where there are oaks and beeches, prefers moist humus. In Russia, it is distributed in the southern regions. Comes across singly and in small groups. Fruiting from July to October.
Differs in high taste, is of gastronomic value.
Boletus
You can confuse the gall mushroom and the boletus, which has other names - obabok and birch. Among the differences is a pattern of black scales on a leg, reminiscent of a birch tree (the bitterness has a pale mesh pattern). Another sign is the whitish or light gray color of the tubular layer (in the gall fungus, it is pinkish).
Boletus forms mycorrhiza with birches. First it has a hemispherical cap, then a pillow-shaped one. The surface is thin or bare. The peel is difficult to separate, in wet weather it becomes mucous. The color ranges from white to dark gray and almost black. The lower part of the cap in a young specimen is white, then grayish-brownish. Size - up to 15 cm in diameter.
The pulp is white, the color on the cut does not change, sometimes it turns slightly pink. In old mushrooms, it becomes watery, spongy. The smell of mushroom, pleasant, the taste is neutral.
The business card of the boletus is black scales that form a kind of pattern on the leg
The leg is high - up to 15 cm, thickness - about 3 cm. The shape is cylindrical, slightly expanding near the ground. The surface is whitish-gray with longitudinal dark scales. In young mushrooms, the leg is fleshy, dense, in old mushrooms it is tough, fibrous. The spore powder is olive-brown.
The fungus is distributed throughout the temperate climatic zone in deciduous and mixed forests next to birches. It is common. It appears in early summer one of the first and ends fruiting in late autumn. It grows especially actively in young birch forests. Sometimes it is found in large quantities in spruce forests with rare birches.
Differs in good taste, but in gastronomic quality it is inferior to boletus. Fertility is cyclical: in some years there is a lot of it, in others it is not at all. In the area where it was distributed, it can disappear for several years, after a while it appears again.
Boletus
The differences between the boletus and the gall fungus are in a remarkable form of the first. It stands out for its striking appearance - most often with an orange-red cap and a leg covered with black scales. It is called a redhead, but the color of the cap may be different: chestnut, yellow-brown, red-brown, white. There are several species (red, oak, pine), united under one name, but there is no clear classification. When cut, the boletus turns blue, purple or almost black. Fruiting from June to October, occurs in large quantities. Forms mycorrhiza most often with aspens. The mushroom is edible, with good taste.
An important sign of the boletus is a bright orange hat
Gall fungus poisoning
The question of the possibility of poisoning with gorchak is still open. They say that signs of gall fungus poisoning appear if you just try it on your tongue. Weakness and dizziness may occur at first. Very soon the symptoms disappear, after a few days there are problems with the outflow of bile, the liver is disrupted, with a high concentration of toxins there is a risk of cirrhosis. There is an opinion that irreparable harm is caused to the kidneys.
You shouldn't experiment with your health. Most mushroom pickers advise against trying it.
Human use of gall fungus
Traditional healers attribute medicinal properties to the bile mushroom. It is believed to have a choleretic effect and is used to treat the liver.
Some mushroom pickers claim that bitterness is easy to get rid of. To do this, soak the gall fungus in salted water or milk before cooking.Others say that this does not help, but only enhances the unpleasant taste.
Conclusion
The gall mushroom has a strong bitterness, it is impossible to eat it. Its name fully justifies the unpleasant taste. It repels insects, it is never wormy.
