Boletus mushrooms: photo and description, poisonous counterparts similar to edible ones, differences

Edible butterflies are real “celebrities” among mushrooms that are collected in Russian forests. There are about 50 species of them in nature, and although only a few of them are in demand among lovers of “silent hunting,” they are highly valued for their abundance, pleasant aroma and excellent taste. These mushrooms do not have truly toxic counterparts, but you need to keep in mind that not all boletus mushrooms are recommended for consumption. In addition, through ignorance, you can confuse an edible mushroom with a completely different species, which may well be poisonous. The ability to distinguish false and edible boletus from a photo will help the mushroom picker make the right choice from all the colorful diversity that the summer and autumn forest offers, and put exactly what you need in the basket.

Are there false butterflies?

In fact, there is no such species as “false butterdish” in the botanical classification. However, this is usually the name given to those mushrooms that can easily be mistaken for the most popular types of edible boletus in Russian forests (common, granular, larch). Some of these “doubles” are conditionally edible, or there is no clear opinion about the possibility of their consumption. Several more types can be eaten without fear, but their taste and aroma leave much to be desired.

It is worth dwelling in more detail on what these false boletus are called and what they look like, as well as their photos and descriptions.

What mushrooms are similar to boletus

Among the mushrooms similar to the common boletus, you can most often encounter the following:

1. The oiler is yellow-brown. Edible, but not very tasty mushroom. It has a semicircular cap with a diameter of 5-14 cm, its edges are folded downwards. The color is gray-yellow or gray-orange. With age it turns red, then becomes light ocher. The pores under the cap are small, gray-yellow or brown-olive in color. The length of the leg is 3-9 cm, it is smooth, thick (up to 3.5 cm in girth), usually lemon-yellow in color.
   
2. Siberian butterdish. Information about him differs. According to one version, this false butter dish is inedible, but not poisonous; according to another, it is edible, but does not have much nutritional value due to the acidity and bitterness in taste. Its cap is 4-10 cm in diameter, light or dark yellow, covered with numerous reddish scales.In a young mushroom it resembles a pillow; in an older one it takes on a convex shape, often with edges curved upward and a tubercle in the middle. The skin on it is mucous and can be easily removed. The leg is from 0.5 to 2 cm thick and about 5-7 cm long, yellow in color with brown spots, not hollow inside. The stalk has a fibrous ring that disappears over time.
   
3. Dry oiler, or goat. Edible, but bitter in taste and has almost no aroma. The diameter of the cap is 3-9 cm, it is yellow-brown, ocher or brown in color. In young mushrooms it is solid, convex; in those that are older, it becomes flatter and cracks. The surface of the cap is slimy in rainy weather and matte, velvety when dry. The pores are large and irregular in shape. The thickness of the leg is small (1-2 cm), length - 3-11 cm. It is hollow and curved in shape. At the fracture site, the flesh of the stem turns blue, and the cap turns pink.
   
4. Pepper moss (pepper moss). According to some sources, this double of the common oiler is inedible, according to others it is classified as conditionally edible. So named because of the sharp, pungent taste of the pulp. The cap is 2-8 cm in diameter, copper-red or “rusty” in color, convex, round in shape. The length of the leg is 3-8 cm, thin (up to 1.5 cm), solid, and can be bent. The pores are uneven, wide, matching the cap, but when pressed they acquire a dark brown color.
   
5. Spruce weevil, or slug. Conditionally edible. The fleshy cap, 4-10 cm in diameter, in young mushrooms has the shape of a hemisphere, but over time it becomes convex-conical and even prostrate. Its color varies from gray-blue to gray-brown, with the middle being lighter than the edges. An old mushroom has dark spots on the surface of the cap. The leg is thick, massive, solid.Its length is 5-11 cm, the color of the lower part is usually bright yellow, and the upper part is grayish. The leg, like the cap, is thickly covered with a layer of mucus, which shines when dry.
   

Are there toadstools that look like butterflies?

Toadstool mushrooms are extremely difficult to confuse with boletus mushrooms. For example, the most toxic of them, pale, is characterized by a wide (up to 12 cm in diameter) convex cap of pale green, olive or white color, covered with a white film. The leg of the pale grebe is long and thin (up to 1 cm). Just below the cap there is a whitish fringed ring. Downwards, the leg thickens and passes into the volva - a dense shell in the shape of an egg or onion, 3-5 cm thick.

The toadstool is not a false boletus. She has her own doubles - russula, greenfinches, champignons, floats.

This toxic mushroom is not a false oiler, but an inexperienced mushroom picker may well be mistaken. Its most characteristic difference is the multiple convex white spots-warts covering the cap. The edible oiler has a clean, evenly colored cap. Only sometimes faint stains are noticeable on it - a consequence of sun tanning.

How to distinguish boletus from false boletus

In order not to get into trouble when going on a “mushroom hunt”, you need to remember what “false” boletus mushrooms are by carefully studying their photos and descriptions of their characteristic features. Information about the chemicals contained in these mushrooms, their benefits or harm to the human body would be useful.

How do boletus differ from false boletus in composition?

The so-called “false” boletus listed above are generally considered edible or conditionally edible.They are distinguished from ordinary ones by a less pleasant or specific taste, as well as by the need for additional processing before cooking.

However, in chemical composition they are all very similar. Approximately 90% of their mass is water. The remaining 10% includes fiber, proteins, fatty acids, a rich set of vitamins and microelements. In terms of the variety of amino acids, these mushrooms, both real and the mentioned “false” ones, are not inferior to meat. The protein content in their pulp is much higher than in any of the vegetables, however, due to the high concentration of chitin, it is absorbed by the human body worse than animal protein.

Butter is a low-calorie product, very well suited for diet.

In addition, these mushrooms contain lactose; apart from them, it is found only in products of animal origin. Rare sugars are also present in the pulp - mycosis, mycodextrin. The fruiting bodies of these mushrooms have a very high concentration of vitamin B (as in butter) as well as PP (even higher than in yeast or liver).

Here is a brief comparative description of the compositional features of real and some types of conditionally false butter:

How to distinguish false boletus from edible ones by appearance

A number of sources call pepper mushroom and Siberian butterfly inedible “false” butter mushrooms. It is worth figuring out what external features will give them away to a mushroom picker who wants to fill the basket only with those mushrooms that can be eaten without fear.

How to identify butterfly mushroom

Edible boletus is described and pictured below. Having examined the photo, it will become clear how to distinguish them from inedible and conditionally edible ones.

The three most common types of mushrooms are:

1. Real butterdish (ordinary, yellow, autumn, late). It is characterized by an oily-looking, convex cap with a small tubercle in the middle. It is covered with a mucous skin, painted in a bright brown color of various shades, from light to chocolate brown, and can reach 10-11 cm in diameter. The leg is thick (up to 3 cm), cylindrical in shape. Its length is about 10 cm, the lower part is brownish, the upper part is yellow. A dark brown or purple membranous ring is clearly visible on the stem. The flesh is white-yellow, juicy in the cap, slightly fibrous in the stem.
   
2. Oiler is grainy (early, summer). Its cap is rounded-convex in shape, up to 10 cm in size, reddish-brown in a young mushroom and lightening to a yellow-ocher color in an old one. The leg is up to 8 cm long, 1-2 cm thick, white-yellow in color, without a ring, covered with convex “grains” in the upper part. The pulp is dense, aromatic, yellowish-brown. The round pores of the tubular layer under the cap secrete white droplets of juice.
   
3. Larch oiler. It has a very brightly colored glossy cap in yellow or orange tones.Its size varies from 3 to 10 cm, the shape is initially hemispherical, but flattens with age. The cap is covered with smooth skin that shines. The leg is hard, of medium thickness (up to 2 cm), can be from 4 to 8 cm long, smooth or curved. Its structure is fine-grained. At the top of the leg there is a wide yellow ring. The pulp is yellowish, dense, with a pleasant fruity aroma.
   

What do false boletus look like?

You can identify a “false” oiler by its characteristic features. Each of these mushrooms has specific external features that help to recognize it:

• if there is no ring on the stem, and the spongy layer on the back of the cap has a reddish tint, most likely this “false” oiler is a peppercorn;
• in the case where the cap is gray or pale purple, and its lower side, instead of tubes, is covered with plates thickly smeared with mucus, it may be spruce fly;
• in the “false” butterdish goat, the pores of the tubular layer are large, similar to a honeycomb, there is no ring on the stem, and the surface of the cap of old mushrooms is cracked;
• the Siberian oiler is distinguished by a thick stem covered with ingrown fibers and a lighter cap with red-brown scales on it;
• if the cap is yellow-colored, dry and not oily, and even velvety to the touch, it is very likely that this “false” oiler is yellow-brown.

Differences between butter and false butter when cut and to taste

To understand whether a butter dish is real or “false,” you should not only study its top and bottom views, but also cut it.

What are the similarities between edible and inedible boletus mushrooms?

Comparing photos of edible and inedible boletus, it is easy to see how they are similar. Most of them have convex caps covered with slippery slimy skin (the exception is the “false” yellow-brown appearance), colored primarily in various shades of brown and red. The legs are usually cylindrical in shape and have a smooth or fibrous surface. They come in medium thickness and completely different heights (from 3 to 12 cm), depending on the size of the mushroom. Compared to the caps, they are lighter in color. Some species have a ring on the stalk, while others do not.

Conventionally called “false” boletus mushrooms, which actually belong to the genus of the same name in the Maslenkov family of the Boletaceae order, are tubular mushrooms. The exception is spruce moth. This “false oiler” is not actually such a thing. He is a representative of the Mokrukhov family of the Boletov order; it is a lamellar mushroom.

The video https://youtu.be/CwotwBZY0nw will tell you more about spruce weevil, where it grows and what these so-called “false boletus” are.

True and “false” species are related by their habitats - pine plantings, as well as mixed forests, where, in addition to coniferous trees, a large number of oaks and birches grow.They love clearings illuminated by the sun, grow well on forest edges and along roads, and often hide under fallen pine needles. They are found almost everywhere in the cool temperate climate of central and northern Russia.

Both real and “false” boletus most often grow in groups, although single specimens may also occur. They appear in abundance two to three days after the rain. These mushrooms also love generous morning dew.

In general, the boletus season falls from June to October, but the peak of the simultaneous appearance of various species occurs in August-September.

What harm can false oils cause to the body?

It should be remembered that although “false” butter beans are not toxic or deadly, if cooked incorrectly they will almost certainly become a source of health problems.

Old, overripe and worm-tainted mushrooms are relatively dangerous: they can cause allergies or intestinal disorders. For this reason, you should not collect the largest specimens - it is best to put small or medium ones (up to 8 cm) in the basket, choosing strong, whole and untouched by insects.

In addition, it is boletus, both “false” and real, collected near highways or near industrial enterprises that accumulate toxins, heavy metal salts and other harmful substances in their fruiting bodies. Even soaking and heat treatment cannot get rid of them. In such places, mushrooms should not be collected at all.

Are there poisonous boletus

There are no truly poisonous oilseeds in nature. However, there is a possibility that a poisonous mushroom of a completely different type may end up in the basket of an amateur mushroom picker, mistakenly taken by him for an oil can. Therefore, you should go on a “quiet hunt” with good theoretical knowledge and practical skills, or take an experienced comrade into the company.

Precautionary measures

Edible varieties of butter, not only “false” ones, but also real ones, are necessarily recommended to be peeled before cooking in order to avoid intestinal disorders.

As for conditionally edible species, before eating, you need to boil them for 20-30 minutes in boiling salted water. Then the broth should be drained, and the mushrooms should be used further in accordance with the culinary recipe.

It is highly advisable to process the butter and prepare dishes from it directly on the day of collection, or, in extreme cases, in the morning of the next day. These mushrooms, both real and “false,” are a perishable product. They quickly become a breeding ground for bacteria. It is especially important not to forget about this when preparing butter for the winter in the form of home canned food.

To store salted or pickled butter (both real and “false”), you should never use galvanized or ceramic glazed containers. This can contribute to the accumulation of high concentrations of lead and zinc in the finished mushroom dish, which are dangerous to the human body.

Conclusion

Knowing how to distinguish false and edible boletus from a photo, and being able to recognize their most common types by their characteristic features, you can confidently go into the forest after them. These mushrooms do not have poisonous counterparts. You can collect not only real boletus, but also many of those that are popularly called “false”. Some of them are quite edible, some are conditionally edible species, they require preliminary boiling before consumption. It is better not to cut off mushrooms such as peppercorn or Siberian buttercup, the edibility of which is a matter of debate: during the season you can find other types of buttermilk that are more tasty and safer. You also need to remember that it is important not only to correctly identify the mushroom before picking it up in your basket, but also to know how to properly process and cook it. Then the catch from the “silent hunt” on the table will really bring pleasure and will not create health problems.

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