Content
Excidia glandularis is the most unusual mushroom. It was called "witch oil." Rarely a mushroom picker will pay attention to it. The mushroom looks like black marmalade. Grows on fallen tree branches. It is considered a biologically active food supplement.
What does excidia glandular look like?
The description of glandular exidia must begin with the fruiting body. It is not tall, reaches 1-2 cm in height. It is black on the outside. Inside is a clear or olive-brown jelly-like substance. The young mushroom has a teardrop shape. Having grown, it acquires a fruiting body similar to the structure of the human brain: tuberculate and ear-shaped.
When it dries, the color becomes matte. The body hardens, forming a dense crust. With increasing humidity it returns to its original state.The consistency is soft density, similar to swollen gelatin or marmalade. Mature plants form a continuous colony, merging into a single whole. Has no smell. The taste is weak. Other structural features:
- The fruits of the mushroom are white and have a curved cylindrical shape. It produces spores all year round (in winter - during warming periods).
- The hypha (mushroom web) is branched and equipped with buckles.
- The reproductive organs (basidia) have the shape of a ball or egg and form 4 spores.
Edibility of exidia glandularis
Exidia ferruginosa is a type of inedible mushroom. Not considered poisonous. Those who have tried it report that this species has a characteristic glandular consistency and does not have any distinct taste.
Where and how does it grow
Can be found on the trunks and branches of fallen birches, oaks and aspens. The distribution area of glandular exidia is the entire middle wooded zone of Eurasia. It grows tightly to the bark, but can be easily cut with a knife. It grows both as single specimens and in large colonies, covering the entire rotting host tree. Deep autumn or early spring is the time when the mushroom appears.
Doubles and their differences
Very similar to this mushroom are:
- Truncated exidia (Exidia truncata). It has a clearly defined flat black cap, which is attached to the substrate sideways. Not used for food.
- Blackening exidia (Exidia nigricans). It has a more wrinkled surface than the glandular one. Appears in the second half of spring on coniferous trees. Inedible.
- Spruce exidia (Exidia pithya). The fruit body is thinner, pillow-like. It ends with a ribbed-wavy ridge.Not considered as a food product. Grows on coniferous trees.
Conclusion
Excidia glandularis is considered an inedible mushroom. All varieties of this species are not used for food, as they have no nutritional value and, if used incorrectly, can cause harm to the body.
