Winter honey fungus: growing in various conditions. Description and properties of winter honey mushrooms Winter honey mushrooms healing properties and rules of use

Winter is not a mushroom season. Indeed, few people scour the forest in search of mushrooms at this time - more and more at home, with a cup of hot tea. But it turns out that going for mushrooms in the cold season is not without meaning: it is then that the winter honey fungus is most abundant, which will be discussed.

Winter honey fungus (Flammulina velutipes) is a cap mushroom of the family Tricholomataceae. Its other name is flammulina velvety-legged or winter mushroom (the first describes appearance, second – collection time).

• the cap reaches a diameter of 2 to 8 cm, sometimes up to 10 cm. While the mushroom is young, it is rounded-convex in shape, later - convex-prostrate, orange-brown in color (darker in the center). The cap is slimy and smooth, shiny when dry.
• the plates on the underside of the cap are sparse, slightly adherent to the stem, yellowish-white to cream in color, darkening with age.
• the leg reaches a height of 8 cm and a thickness of 0.3-1 cm. Cylindrical, lighter (yellow) in the upper part, dark (red, brown) and velvety in the lower part.
• The pulp is light yellow, odorless and tasteless. The lower part of the stem is hard, closer to the cap it is soft.

Flammulina is classified as edible, the third category.

Spreading

Interestingly, this is one of the few species that appears in large numbers in cities (gardens and parks), along highways and near industrial enterprises.

How to collect

The easiest way to collect mushrooms is from fallen trees and old stumps, since they often grow quite high on living trees. Flammulina are cut only top part legs and cap, since the rest of the leg (middle and bottom) is too hard.

It is better to collect winter mushrooms in a basket, since they are quickly compressed in a bucket or bag. You should not collect these mushrooms, like any others, near industrial enterprises: when they grow near factories, the harmful substances they emit into the air accumulate in the fruiting bodies.

Twin species

Flammulina velvety-footed is similar to the deadly poisonous moth, or bright gymnopilus (Gymnopilus junonius). But in the moth, the lower part of the cap looks different: in the winter honey fungus, the plates are quite sparse, yellowish-white, while in the moth, they are very frequent and yellow, and in the upper part of the leg there is a ring.

Another similar appearance– summer honey fungus (Kuehneromyces mutabilis). Usually, there are no problems distinguishing them, since winter mushrooms are collected in winter, when summer mushrooms are not available. Moreover, summer honey fungus is also edible. It looks almost the same as the winter honey fungus, but the summer honey mushroom has a dark rim along the edge of its cap. In addition, summer honey mushrooms never grow on living trees and almost never on conifers.

In addition, winter honey fungus is confused with the edged galerina (Galerina marginata). They can be distinguished by the ring on the stalk, which is present in Galerina and absent in Flammulina.

False honey mushrooms - several types of honey mushrooms, some of which are poisonous, while others are simply inedible. But it is hardly possible to confuse the winter honey mushroom with them, since the fruiting time false mushrooms diverges from the fruiting period of Flammulina.

Primary processing and preparation

Like other honey mushrooms, winter mushrooms need to be boiled for 20-30 minutes before cooking. They are stewed, fried, and also made into soups. At the end of frying, you can add breadcrumbs: this will make the mushrooms crispy. For long-term storage (after which the mushrooms will still need to be cooked), after boiling and drying, you can put the caps in bags in the freezer (at a temperature of -19°C).

Winter mushrooms are salted, pickled and dried. True, only in a hot way. After the caps are boiled twice, they are placed in a jar, adding a little of the water in which they were boiled. Add salt, spices and close the jar. Honey mushrooms will be salted in 2-3 weeks. You can also pickle them dry, drying them after cooking and without adding water to the jar.

The nutritional value

100 g of winter mushrooms contains:

• 2.66 g proteins;
• 0.39 g fat;
• 7.81 g carbohydrates.

Calorie content – ​​37 kcal/100 g.

Benefits and harms

Winter honey mushrooms are high in antioxidants, including ergothioneine (a typical mushroom antioxidant that stimulates immune system and restoring skin after exposure to UV rays) and proflamin (in experiments on mice with cancer, it increased their life expectancy by 85%). They also contain lectin and P-D-glucan, which have antiviral and antibacterial properties. When consumed regularly, winter mushroom treats some diseases of the liver and stomach (for example, ulcers).

Thus, picking mushrooms in winter can diversify not only gray, sunless everyday life, but also your New Year's table. And at this table you can casually mention that you picked these mushrooms a couple of weeks ago - the guests will be surprised!

For mushroom pickers, winter honey fungus gives great opportunity do what you love even in the cold, because it bears fruit from November until almost the end of spring. This means that you can please your loved ones and friends fresh mushrooms on cold days. It is also a complete replacement for meat during Orthodox Lent.

Winter honey fungus belongs to the family Aryachaceae, it is also called winter mushroom or flammulina velvety-footed. One of distinctive features– a really velvet stem of terracotta color, a little lighter towards the cap. The leg is cylindrical, tubular. The remains of the bedspread (ring, skirt) are missing.

If the cap of the honey mushroom is convex, the mushroom is young; flat – older. The color is orange, darker towards the middle. The brightness makes them easy to find. The surface is mucous. The bottom of the cap is lamellar, the plates are pale yellowish in color and darken over time, weakly attached to the stem. The pulp is light yellow, odorless.

Settling on weakened trees, honey mushrooms destroy them, so in the garden it is necessary to monitor the appearance of this variety on wood and not allow it to grow, fill damaged areas of bark and saw cuts with garden varnish.

Collection of winter mushrooms

It is very convenient to collect winter honey mushrooms on fallen trees and stumps. You need to cut down to half the leg, since its lower part is a bit harsh. Nothing better than a basket has been invented as a container for collecting: mushrooms feel comfortable in it, they don’t break and they breathe. You should not collect in industrial areas and along busy highways: the harvest will be toxic.

Carefully! Poisonous doubles

Winter honey mushrooms are similar to the fringed galerina, which is recognized by the ring under the cap. In addition, the plates of the galerina are darker, almost brown, and the color of the leg is also different from the honey fungus. Galerina is also a saprophyte.

As for false mushrooms, it is impossible to confuse them with flammulina, since their fruiting time does not coincide.

Processing and preparation

Winter honey fungus is suitable for any cooking method. After collection, it is advisable to begin processing and cooking as quickly as possible. You need to sort through the harvest, trim off the excessively long stems, and carefully check again to see if you have caught a suspicious mushroom. If you have collected a lot, it makes sense to pickle or marinate them.

Pickling

Description of the hot salting method:

• First you need to trim the stems, leaving about 1 cm. Next, rinse, especially thoroughly wash the mucus from the cap, boil and drain in a colander. Rinse again and boil for 40 minutes;
• After boiling, pour the water into a separate container, place the mushrooms in a bowl where they will be salted. The container must be enamel or glass. For 1 kg of prepared mushrooms, 2 tbsp are required. l. salt. You can add spices to taste, for example, sweet peas, cloves, coriander;
• Pour some water in which the mushrooms were boiled. Cover the top with a wooden circle or plate, press down with pressure - a clean stone or a jar of water;
• The main thing is that the mushrooms are completely in the brine. Place in a cool place. Salting period is 2 – 3 weeks.

Dry salting method:

Prepare honey mushrooms as usual: rinse well, trim the stems. Boil for 40 minutes, pour out the water, rinse again. Transfer them to a pickling container - a barrel or pan. 2 tbsp required. l. without top of salt for 1 kg of prepared mushrooms. Add your favorite spices, press down with pressure and put in the basement for 2 - 3 weeks.

Pickling

Prepare raw materials for pickling in the same way as for salting. Boil for about half an hour, drain in a colander, and rinse. Prepare the marinade: 2 tbsp. l. sugar and salt without top, 3 tbsp. l. vinegar 9% per 1 liter of water, spices to your taste. Boil mushrooms in marinade for 10 minutes. Next, put the product into jars, cover with parchment, tying it with twine or an elastic band. Store in a cellar or basement.

Hot dishes

Winter mushrooms are great for making soup and frying. Before putting mushrooms in soup or in a frying pan, they must first be boiled separately for 30 minutes. Winter mushrooms make a very delicate cream soup. Here is a description of its preparation:

You need 0.2 kg of fresh honey mushrooms; 0.5 kg of potatoes; 0.5 l of water; onion – 1 pc., carrots – 1 pc., 200 g cream, salt;

First, peel the onions and carrots, chop the onion finely, grate the carrots and place in a heated frying pan for sautéing;

Honey mushroom caps, boiled in advance, cut and sauté together with onions and carrots. Leave a few caps whole;

Peel and cut the potatoes and place in boiling water. When it is ready, add mushrooms, onions and carrots to the soup;

Beat the first dish using a blender. Pour in the cream, beat again and bring to a boil. Fry the caps, left whole, in a frying pan separately and place on plates before serving. Decorate with greens.

Freezing

Honey mushrooms can be frozen. To do this, they need to be trimmed, rinsed in a colander and allowed to drain. Place on a clean surface to dry slightly. Place into bags and place in the freezer.

Useful properties and composition

Japanese scientists have discovered the anti-cancer properties of winter honey fungus. Through laboratory studies, it was established that the substances flammulin and proflamin have the ability to activate antitumor cells and block tumor growth. In Japan, winter mushroom is cultivated in large quantities.

Winter mushrooms contain potassium, which is necessary for heart function; iron to increase hemoglobin; vitamins B, C, D; essential and essential amino acids, fatty acid omega-3 and omega-6, saturated and polyunsaturated acids.

Thus, the composition of winter honey fungus is quite balanced, and it is complete useful product nutrition.

Thanks to their pleasant and delicate taste, winter mushrooms are actively used for culinary purposes. Their fruiting bodies are pickled and salted, and added to soups and sauces. Although mushrooms become slimy after heat treatment, taste qualities don't change at all.

Appearance of winter mushrooms

The second name of the mushrooms, indicating their external features, is Flammulina velvetypodia. The diameter of the flat-round cap ranges from 2 to 10 cm. The surface layer is smooth, bare, and mucous. The color can be yellow or with the addition of an orange or brown tint.. With increased humidity, the center becomes noticeably darker than the transparent striped edge.

Young specimens have edges turned inward, which straighten out as the mushroom matures. Interesting feature is that the color palette of the fruit changes depending on the host wood.

The plates are white or light ocher in color and can be free or connected to a stem. The older the fruit, the darker and wider the color of the plates. The flesh of the fleshy cap is light yellow, exuding a pleasant mushroom aroma. The leg is cylindrical in shape, has an elastic and dense structure. As the fetus matures, it bends slightly. The base is velvety with a dark brown color. The upper part is noticeably lighter.

Where do winter mushrooms grow in Russia?

When frozen, the fabrics of the caps turn into glass, but with the spring thaw they thaw, losing their fragility. On the revived plates, spores are formed, ready for germination. The wind carries the spore powder, promoting the spread of fungi, forming new colonies on damaged areas of the bark. Infection of garden trees has a detrimental effect on the entire garden, so it is recommended to destroy the affected parts of the tree or shrub, and treat cut areas and cracks with garden varnish.

Where to collect winter honey mushrooms (video)

Season and rules for collecting winter mushrooms

Flammulina is found all year round. However, in the warm season it bears fruit less often. The peak of collection occurs in the coldest months: from November to February. There are cases when mushroom yields are observed in May.

They love chilly and rainy weather. In frosty times, the fruits freeze, and when thawed they continue to grow, and the thawed fruits do not lose their elasticity and taste.

Bright orange cluster of fruits different sizes often found at a height of more than 3 m, which makes their collection difficult. It is most convenient to pick mushrooms growing on stumps.

Before you go collecting winter trophies, recommended to read important rules :

1. There is no need to pick very small mushrooms.
2. The fruiting body must be cut off at the very base without damaging the mycelium.
3. Picked mushrooms should be cleared of debris before putting them in a basket or bucket.
4. You cannot take fruits whose body is spoiled, as they contain dangerous and poisonous substances.
5. It is better to place mushrooms in the basket with their caps down.

Composition and taste of winter mushrooms

Despite the fact that honey mushrooms belong to the conditionally edible category of mushrooms, they are known for their beneficial properties. They contain:

• vitamins;
• amino acids;
• minerals.

Thanks to phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper and a large amount of protein found in the fruiting body, eating mushrooms helps in the treatment and prevention of many ailments. The content of healing components helps prevent cancer.

The mushroom pulp is tender and the taste is pleasant. They are great for pickling, marinating, frying and boiling. Winter mushrooms can be used as a filling for pies, added to meat and salads. Although mushroom dishes are very tasty, some cooks do not like them because of their unpleasant, slippery appearance.

How to distinguish winter honey fungus from false species

Going on a quiet hunt, important to remember that there are inedible and poisonous species mushrooms similar to edible representatives. In order not to be poisoned by mushroom doubles, you should have certain knowledge that will help you distinguish a false mushroom from a fruit suitable for consumption.

1. The edible form has a membranous ring at the top of the stem, similar to a skirt.
2. Young edible honey mushrooms have small darkish scales on their caps, which disappear as they grow older.
3. The color of false specimens is much brighter.
4. The smell from the winter honey fungus is more pleasant than from its false representative, which smells like mold.
5. Cream color of the plates under the cap edible mushrooms does not differ from greenish or olive-black plates edible species.

The main feature that distinguishes winter honey fungus from its counterparts is the time of fruiting.

Features of winter mushrooms (video)

Primary processing and features of preparing winter mushrooms

The first step is to clear the mushrooms of debris. To make it easier to separate stuck leaves and grass, honey mushrooms should be poured cold water and cover with a press. The water needs to be salted, then the larvae and insects will leave the fruit. Fruits should be kept in salt water for no more than three hours. Then you should rinse them clean water. To avoid deformation, they must be removed from the container using a colander. Debris that remains on the fruiting bodies must be removed with a knife, and damaged and dark areas must be cut off.

Heat treatment of winter mushrooms should last at least 40 minutes. For honey mushroom soup, it is advisable to use only caps containing protein. Frozen or dried herbal product is well tolerated long-term storage. Salted mushrooms should not be stored for more than a year, as the risk of botulism infection increases. For pickling, you need to use only hot marinade.

Features of growing winter mushrooms in the garden

Contrary to the belief that growing honey mushrooms yourself requires a lot of effort, breeding them is not at all difficult.

In view of this, in garden plot it is necessary to create conditions as close as possible to natural ones. Since honey mushrooms do not settle on all tree species, you should prepare stumps from alder, birch, beech, aspen, willow, maple, poplar, oak, and ash. The most suitable are rotten or slightly rotten stumps with cracks in the bark. Such wood will allow the spores to take root better.

How to cook honey mushrooms (video)

If the trunk is not chipped, they should be made using an ax in the top and sides. Low stumps (up to 30 cm) must be placed in water for a couple of hours, and then buried in the area planned for. It is better to choose a place that is shaded and with high humidity. Depending on the length of the trunk, the digging depth is selected. You can bury half or almost a whole stump to the top.

For breeding, you can purchase it at specialized retail outlets or prepare it yourself. Specimens with massive caps are suitable for these purposes. Mushrooms should be soaked in water and left for several hours. Then you need to treat the stumps with water and lay out the caps. Place moss or sawdust on top. The harvest will appear only after 2 - 3 years. IN summer time The wood must be moistened, otherwise the mycelium will dry out. Honey mushrooms can grow when complete absence lighting. In this case, their color will turn white, but the taste will remain the same.

Winter mushrooms can withstand colossal pollution environment. This cap species is considered the only one capable of growing in the central part large city or on the side of the highway. But collecting such mushrooms is prohibited, since they accumulate harmful elements.

His appearance is ordinary and does not have any characteristic zest. But, even if you come across a mushroom that is poisonous and inedible at first glance in the forest under a layer of snow, you can discard these thoughts. We can say with almost 100% certainty that this is a honey fungus, since at this time of year there is nothing else to be found besides it.

Use in medicine

Winter mushroom honey fungus (flammulina): photo, description

Winter mushrooms or Winter mushroom (Flammulina velutipes)

I would prefer the more accurate name “winter mushroom” - winter honey fungus, because... There are also mushrooms that grow in winter.

Mushroom from the tricholoma family (Tncholomataceae). The cap is 2-9 cm in diameter, honey-yellow (see photo), darker in the center, flat-convex, later flat, smooth, slimy. The hymenophore is lamellar, yellow-white, the plates are sparse, wide, slightly adherent to the stalk.

The leg is 3-10 cm high, 0.5-1.5 cm thick, cylindrical, light yellow in the upper part, brown and fleecy in the lower part. The taste and smell are pleasant.

Honey mushrooms: how to find, main types, beneficial properties + 70 photos

Found in large, close groups on living and dead trees, stumps, in clearing areas, in parks and gardens, on fruit trees, linden, aspen, poplar and, especially often, on willow. Fruits from December to March. The mycelium of winter honey fungus lives for tens and even hundreds of years, so you can harvest in the same places for many years. In our country it has been mastered artificial breeding on a mixture of sawdust and bran. Winter mushroom is delicious. Its caps are boiled, pickled, and dried.

The need to look into the sleeping winter forest arises over the years, experience and from dissatisfaction with the brevity of a moment of communication with the forest and nature.

Somewhere from the late 70s I began to examine more carefully winter forests Dnipropetrovsk region and nearby regions. While running through a small forest on a winter fishing trip, I noticed a tree trunk generously covered with brown mushrooms with stems dark to black, and there were mushrooms “from the ground” to “heaven” - all over the trunk. Despite the frost, these mushrooms do not lose their presentation or taste at all - they simply “fall asleep” and grow again at the first thaw. Since winters in Ukraine are often “rotten”, mushroom season doesn't end.

Winter honey mushrooms prefer deciduous trees to coniferous trees; they grow in “bushes” more often than alone. You need to look on old or dying trunks, although they are happy to hide under pieces of damaged or peeling bark in appearance healthy trees. They often grow within city limits, especially in parks, sometimes directly on the soil on dead wood.

Look around! Sometimes the “winter” ones jump out of turn - ahead of the autumn real mushrooms, they grow from September (if it’s cold) to March. It’s all the more pleasant to please yourself and your friends with a “fresh” mushroom when it’s cold and knee-deep in snow outside.

You need to take the cap and a third of the stem (below is a bit harsh), the small ones go whole. Boil for 10-15 minutes, drain, rinse, add salt and add onion to the pan, bon appetit!

Excellent assortment - oyster mushrooms with honey mushrooms. In the marinade, winter honey mushrooms are “ordinary”, nothing special. The slightly similar poisonous false brick-red honey mushrooms do not tolerate frost, so good luck!

An avid mushroom picker is always upset when the season ends." quiet hunt" Fishermen can smile quietly, glad that their favorite activity is all-season. But the mushroom pickers were out of luck. But not everyone knows that there are late types of mushrooms that grow even in cold winter. One of these species is the winter honey fungus. And in this article we would like to provide a description of this mushroom, a photo and talk about its unique medicinal properties.

Description of honey mushrooms

In our market it is better known as “monoki”. The thing is that the mushroom comes to the Russian market from Japan. Therefore, if you see pickled monks, you should know that this is a common winter honey fungus.

In a number of Asian countries, these mushrooms are almost the most favorite species.

In Russia, the habitat of winter mushrooms is generally limited to northern latitudes.

The most important feature The winter fungus is that this species is truly winter.

The fruiting body begins to ripen at the end of autumn, and by the beginning of winter you can harvest a decent harvest of honey mushrooms.

With all this, it is worth noting that if the winter is warm, it will bear fruit throughout the entire quarter.

At severe frosts honey mushroom bodies are damaged, but as soon as the temperature rises to zero degrees Celsius, they are immediately restored.

His appearance is ordinary and does not have any characteristic zest. But, even if you come across a mushroom that is poisonous and inedible at first glance in the forest under a layer of snow, you can discard these thoughts.

We can say with almost 100% certainty that this is a honey fungus, since at this time of year there is nothing else to be found besides it.

Young specimens have a small hemispherical cap. As the fruiting body ages, it straightens and takes on an umbrella shape.

The surface color can be either light brown or honey. It is worth noting that central part the head is always darker than its edges.

Dark spots often appear on old mushrooms. They often have a characteristic brown tint.

The diameter of the cap is small - on average up to 10 centimeters.

Due to frequent contact with water, its pulp has acquired a watery character. But, despite this, the taste of the mushroom is still at the proper level. The color of the pulp is dark beige.

The plates are planted quite sparsely. They have the same color as the pulp. Attached to the surface quite firmly. As they age, they often acquire a dark color.

The stem is very thin, and due to its habitat (stumps, rotten trees), it often has a deformed shape in relation to the cap. On top, the leg has an identical surface color. Closer to the base it acquires a darker shade. On average, the length of the leg does not exceed 8 cm. The thickness is 0.8 cm.

The flesh of the leg is rough even in a young fruit. There is nothing to say about the old ones at all. Because of this, mostly young fruits are eaten.

Asians generally love to practice traditional medicine. And winter honey fungus is a frequent guest in the notebook of the folk healer of the Asian country.

The fruiting body itself is rich in proteins, zinc, potassium, iodine and other microelements vital for humans.

Japanese scientists even discovered the ability of inoki to resist the formation of malignant and benign tumors. They even compiled a map that established the percentage of the possibility of getting cancer from eating the mushroom. Naturally, the more often it is present in the diet, the less likely it is to encounter cancer.

Also, it is worth noting its anti-virus qualities.

Winter honey fungus - a mushroom from under the snow

Its use leads to increased immunity, which is an indispensable quality in winter, when viruses are in the air. Also, the mushroom has a restorative effect on the liver and gastrointestinal tract.

Also, cosmetology did not bypass it. Based on it, many creams, lotions, and masks are produced that allow you to rejuvenate the skin.

Winter honey fungus: where and when to collect, beneficial properties

Every mushroom picker knows that best time For mushroom picking it is autumn. Sometimes summer is added to this time period, especially August, which is considered one of the most mushroom months. But not everyone is aware that the mushroom season is not at all limited to the warm seasons.

AND best example This is done by the winter mushroom - flammulina, or winter honey fungus. As the name implies, the “hunt” for it is usually opened in cold weather of the year.

It is best to collect winter honey mushrooms from November to February, since it is then that they are found especially often and in large quantities, although they can grow throughout the year. And this is a great reason to leave the warm house and go into the forest in search of this unusual mushroom.

Distinctive features of the mushroom

Flammulina velvety-footed is a relatively small edible mushroom with a cap-shaped structure. Cap size hesitates from 2 to 10 cm; in young mushrooms it is convex, while in mature ones it becomes flat. Characteristic feature winter honey fungus is the mucous surface of the cap, which can be colored various shades yellow, orange and brown depending on the type of tree on which it grows. In this case, the edges of the cap are usually lighter than the middle.

Winter honey fungus: growing in various conditions

The pulp has a pleasant taste, it is thin, light in color: from white to yellowish.

The plates are sparse, often fused to the stem or shortened. The color can vary quite widely: from white or cream to ocher.

The flammulina stalk is thin and long, reaching from 2 to 7 cm, depending on the size of the mushroom.

As a rule, it is brown in color, with the lower part of the leg being darker than the upper part, which is more yellow. The ring, also known as the “skirt,” is missing.

Areas of use

Flammulina is widely used in cooking: in second courses, salads, sauces, pickles and marinades. But before you put the found mushrooms into food, you need to take into account that they must pass high-quality heat treatment. The fact is that they are included in the fourth category of edible mushrooms (conditionally edible) due to the fact that they contain a weak, unstable toxin. During heat treatment, in particular during cooking for at least 20 minutes, the poison is destroyed and the mushroom becomes completely suitable for consumption.

Someone might wonder, why even bother with such a dubious mushroom if there are a huge number of equally tasty, but much easier to process? There are several answers to this question:

• Useful properties of flammulina. Japanese scientists in the middle of the last century discovered an amazing quality of the winter mushroom: it contains a substance called flammulin, which prevents the occurrence of cancer and helps fight existing ones. Further research only increased the list valuable properties winter honey fungus. As it turned out, it has a beneficial effect on the stomach and liver, helping to prevent diseases and stimulate the immune system.
• The time of year in which flammulina is harvested. It must be admitted that in winter it is difficult to treat yourself to fresh mushrooms: you can only buy them in the store. And personally collected winter mushrooms, which also have a festive bright color, turn out to be a very pleasant addition to the standard diet. In addition, the fact that flammulins are most active in winter helps to avoid encounters with dangerous doubles , characteristic of other types of mushrooms.

There are only so many mushrooms you can use confuse flammulina. Due to the time when it begins to bear fruit abundantly, it has practically no false doubles. However, there are still several types of mushrooms that are very similar to flammulina, and it will be useful to understand their similarities and differences. So, who can you confuse her with and how dangerous could it be?

Winter mushroom doubles and their differences:

• Summer honey fungus. This edible mushroom is quite difficult to confuse with flammulina due to the fact that it is usually found between April and November. As a difference, we can point out the thin membranous ring on the stem of the summer honey mushroom, as well as the often found dark border along the edge of the cap.
• Collibia spindlepod. The chance of confusing this inedible mushroom with the winter mushroom is quite small: its fruiting time is in summer and autumn. Collibia is distinguished by the characteristic red-brown color of its cap; its leg is long, spindle-shaped and often twisted.
• Galerina bordered. One of the most dangerous false mushrooms, since this mushroom is very poisonous. You can distinguish it from the winter honey fungus by the ring on its leg, as well as by its addiction to coniferous trees, while flammulina prefers deciduous ones. The leg of the galerina is covered with a white coating. However, the chance of encountering both galerina and a winter mushroom at the same time is quite small, especially if you collect them in winter: galerina bears fruit from July to October, sometimes also extending into November.
• False scent. This twin brother of almost all types of honey mushrooms is found from July to October. The color can be any: pink, yellow, light orange shades or red. Characteristic is bad smell emanating from the pulp of the mushroom, and a bitter taste that does not disappear even during heat treatment.

As can be seen from this list, it is quite difficult to confuse a winter mushroom with others, but we must not forget the most important rule regarding mushroom picking: if for some reason the found mushroom seems suspicious, it is better to leave it in the forest.

We call one of the varieties of edible lamellar mushrooms, autumn honey mushrooms, honey mushrooms. These are the most productive and collected honey mushrooms, among the most common summer honey mushrooms and winter. Scientific name mushroom “true honey fungus” or “autumn honey fungus” (Armillariella mellea). Usually, autumn honey mushrooms end the mushroom season. IN Central Russia they are often called “Assumption” for their massive appearance at the end of August, just on the Feast of the Assumption Holy Mother of God(August 28). On this day, experienced mushroom pickers go to the forest for the first autumn honey mushrooms, which bear fruit from then on for two to three weeks. In a dry summer, the first wave of fruiting may go unnoticed or move more late date. In some regions, and the honey fungus is widespread throughout the entire Northern Hemisphere except permafrost And tropical latitudes, a second and even a third wave of honey mushroom fruiting is observed, depending on the weather and climatic conditions terrain. There, autumn honey mushrooms are collected until mid-October.

In the photo: autumn honey mushrooms (true honey fungus, Armillariella mellea). On the following pages, see other photos of autumn honey mushrooms.

When and how to collect autumn honey mushrooms.

The generosity with which the forest gifts us with these fragrant mushrooms can satisfy everyone, so the appearance of honey mushrooms is eagerly awaited. Collecting honey mushrooms is a real pleasure. They meet in families, so they manage to pick up a lot of mushrooms at once, sometimes not even carrying them away at once. There is a real “silent hunt” for honey mushrooms - who is first? attacked mushroom place– cut off all the mushrooms at once. Returning again, you may not find them - there are many “hunters”. And those cut and laid under a bush, sprinkled with grass and branches, will go unnoticed and will wait for your second arrival. But this is only if you want to process so many mushrooms later, and you know how to navigate the forest.

Honey mushrooms are well transported. Placed in large baskets, buckets, bags, car trunks and whatever is at hand at that moment, they are safely delivered to the recycling site. The main thing is to cook them quickly and scatter them so that they don’t “burn.”

Winter mushroom (Flammulina, winter honey fungus): description, application, photo

In cooking, the caps and legs of young honey mushrooms are often used. However, some mushroom pickers prefer to collect mature mushrooms with a large cap. “There’s something to pick up with a fork!” - they say. From large honey mushrooms, only the caps are collected; their legs are hard and not suitable for food. Overgrown honey mushrooms or collected during prolonged rainy weather partially lose their attractive appearance, mushroom aroma and taste, but are still good fried, boiled and pickled. Inexperienced mushroom pickers may confuse autumn honey mushrooms with similar false mushrooms. Therefore you need to know them features.

“Website about plants” www.pro-rasteniya.ru

Winter honey mushrooms or Flammulina velutires are an edible variety of mushrooms. They belong to the Ryadovkov family and grow almost everywhere in our country.

Winter mushrooms belong to the Ryadovkov family and grow almost everywhere in our country.

The winter mushroom forms a cap-peduncle fruiting body, central or slightly eccentric location. The cap is convex or flat, yellow-golden, honey-golden-brown or yellowish-orange-brown in color. The cap edges, as a rule, have a lighter color than the central part.

Edible mushrooms have thin flesh, whitish, beige-yellow or light yellow color, with a pleasant and quite pronounced mushroom taste. The leg is tubular type, quite dense, with a very characteristic velvety golden-brown or yellowish-beige-brown coloring, without any remains of the spathe. The plates are of an adherent type, sparsely arranged, sometimes shortened, whitish or ocher in color. The spores are whitish in color, ellipsoidal or cylindrical in shape.

Gallery: winter honey mushrooms (25 photos)

When to collect winter mushrooms (video)

Where does winter honey fungus grow?

Fruiting is dense, in whole groups or so-called clusters. The variety is widespread in regions with temperate climates. Fruiting bodies are very actively formed from early or mid-autumn until the onset of spring. Fruiting occurs during the thaw period in winter.

Among other things, winter mushrooms are cultivated in many countries, including Japan and Korea. When grown in industrial scale special, well-moistened wood or chopped wheat straw is used as a nutrient substrate. Harvesting during artificial cultivation is carried out almost all year round, and global production figures reach one hundred thousand tons annually.

With the onset of autumn comes the time to collect winter mushrooms. At sufficient temperatures and elevated level humidity, the fruiting bodies of this edible variety grow and develop quickly. The winter mushroom can be found not only in deciduous, but also in mixed forest zones. It is advisable to go looking for honey mushrooms when you are old enough deciduous forests, where fruiting bodies are actively formed on stumps and trunks of the so-called dead wood, as well as on living deciduous wood.

When collecting, you need to remember that in addition to edible varieties, a mushroom picker may encounter false and poisonous honey mushrooms in the forest, so It is very important to pay attention to the following distinctive features:

• false honey mushrooms are most often found on the soil and under leaf litter;
• the cap of the false mushroom is always very brightly colored in bright red and greenish-gray tones;
• painting plates on inside the caps are darker and more pronounced.

With the onset of autumn comes the time to collect winter mushrooms

Chief and sure sign– the presence of a very characteristic leathery ring located on the stalk, directly under the cap. False honey mushrooms necessarily have fragmentary parts of such a poorly visible and uneven ring. Among other things, the cap and leg of real honey mushrooms are always covered with quite pronounced scales, which are completely absent in all false varieties.

To do this, you need to carefully cut off the stem with a knife or carefully twist the fruiting body from the mycelium. The second method is more preferable, as it minimizes the risk of pathogenic infection entering the mycelium through a cut on the mushroom stalk. All connoisseurs of “silent hunting” must follow a number of rules:

• Only familiar edible species are subject to collection, and the slightest doubt about knowledge of the mushroom is a reason to refuse to collect it;
• You cannot collect overgrown, rotten, wormy or too old mushrooms, as well as too young, not fully ripened fruiting bodies;
• you need to collect winter mushrooms in a basket that will provide fruiting bodies sufficient ventilation and long-term preservation;
• The winter mushroom is placed in the basket with its cap down or slightly sideways.

Important to remember, What collected mushrooms you need to deliver it home as quickly as possible, sort it out and process it, which will avoid rotting mushrooms and getting poisoned from eating mushroom dishes.

Features of winter mushrooms (video)

Composition and beneficial properties of winter mushrooms

The presence of a whole biological complex in the mushroom pulp active substances, vitamins and minerals, Winter mushrooms have the following beneficial properties:

• strengthening the immune system;
• improving the elasticity and condition of the vascular wall;
• destruction of pathogenic microflora and elimination of inflammatory processes;
• normalization of the heart and vascular system;
• lowering blood cholesterol levels;
• decreased blood sugar levels;
• restoration of intestinal beneficial microflora.

Mushroom infusions, tinctures and decoctions are used for medicinal purposes. Among other things, winter mushroom is a very effective and affordable remedy for combating impotence and is widely used in the prevention of many ailments.

The winter mushroom can be found not only in deciduous, but also in mixed forest zones

False doubles of winter mushrooms

There are several false look-alikes of the false mushroom that inexperienced connoisseurs of “silent hunting” may mistake this for a tasty and healthy variety:

• gray-plated autumn pseudofoam It is distinguished by a convex pale yellow or brownish-rusty cap, the lower part of which is covered with a characteristic blanket. The surface skin is smooth and fairly moist or sticky;
• brick red false scent, growing in large groups and characterized by a very characteristic spherical or hemispherical cap shape with a smooth and dry, reddish-orange-brick surface. The plates have a yellowish, olive or dark chocolate color. The leg is hollow, reddish-brick, thin and curved.

A less common variety is the false poisonous sulfur-yellow honey mushroom, which is distinguished by caps with curved edges and the presence of a cobwebby layer on the lower part. Among other things, you need to remember that the plates are yellowish, greenish-olive or olive-brown-black, and in edible species the plates are creamy or yellowish-white. You should also take into account the fact that the pulp of inedible false varieties has a very unpleasant and earthy odor.