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Gymnopilus pine is a lamellar mushroom belonging to the Hymenogasteraceae family, genus Gymnopilus. Other names: moth, spruce gymnopil.
What does pine gymnopil look like?
The cap of the pine gymnopile is first convex, bell-shaped, then becomes flat. Its surface is dry and smooth, sometimes with scales, and begins to crack with age. The hat has a fibrous structure. It is darker in the center, lighter at the edges. The color is yellow, golden, ocher with brownish or brown tints. The diameter is from 8 to 10 cm.
The plates are thin, wide, sometimes growing into teeth. In young specimens they are light amber, in old ones they are brownish, and spots may appear on them.Spore powder is orange-brown, rusty.
The pulp is golden, yellow, firm, elastic, and immediately darkens when broken. The smell is unpleasant, sour, reminiscent of rotten wood, pungent, and the taste is bitter.
The leg is low, grows up to 5 cm, and can be curved. Closer to the cap it is hollow inside, solid at the base. Traces of the bedspread are visible on the surface. The color is first brown, then gradually whitens and becomes creamy, acquiring a brown tint when broken.
Gymnopil pine is similar to other representatives of the genus
One of them - Gymnopil penetrating, which has smaller fruiting bodies. The hat is first round, then becomes spread out. Diameter - from 3 to 8 cm. The color is rusty-brown with a darker center. The surface is dry, after rain it is oily. The height of the leg is about 7 cm. It is lighter in color, its surface is longitudinally fibrous, with a whitish coating in places. Grows on rotting pines and other conifers. Fruiting time is from August to November. Not edible, with bitter pulp.
Gymnopil penetrating is common, but it is not very noticeable in the forest
Gymnopil Juno. Large, visually spectacular, with a yellow or orange cap, the diameter of which reaches 15 cm. Its surface is covered with scales that fit tightly to each other. The stalk is fibrous, thickened, with a dark ring at the top. It grows in groups at the base of stumps, under oak trees, and often parasitizes living trees. This gymnopil is inedible, non-poisonous, and very bitter. Previously it was considered a hallucinogen.
Juno is distinguished by a ring on its stem
Gymnopil hybrid. The diameter of the cap is from 2 to 9 cm. At first it is strongly convex, then spread out with slightly curved edges and a tubercle in the center.The color is orange-yellowish with lighter edges. The plates are yellowish (in mature ones they are rusty-brown), frequent, and descending. The leg is darker, central or eccentric, uneven, curving, height from 3 to 8 cm, thickness from 4 to 9 mm. The pulp is whitish at first, then becomes yellowish. It grows in groups in coniferous and deciduous forests from September to November. Prefers stumps and nearby dead wood. Inedible, tasteless.
Hybrid at a young age is distinguished by a strongly convex cap
The main differences between flammulina: a velvety stem and a shiny cap, growth only on deciduous trees, and a smaller size of the fruiting body.
Winter honey fungus (flammulina) grows in large colonies only on deciduous trees
Where does Gymnopil pine grow?
It is found everywhere in Europe (including Russia) and North America. Fruiting time differs in different areas, ranging from June to October.
It grows in coniferous forests and is often found in deciduous forests. It prefers dead wood, which colonizes in large groups, as well as rotting tree branches, stumps and their roots.
Is it possible to eat Gymnopil pine?
Classified as inedible. It cannot be eaten.
Conclusion
Gymnopil pine is an inedible mushroom that grows on pines and spruces. Colonies of these orange mushrooms are a very beautiful sight.
