Content
Poplar row is a mushroom that is very helpful for residents of treeless regions. It was brought there along with poplars, which were used to plant windbreaks between fields. The advantage of rowing is that you can get more buckets in one strip.
Description of the mushrooms
The Oryadovaceae/Tricholomaceae family is so named not for its “love” for geometrically correct structures, but for its crowded growth. In one place, mushroom pickers sometimes collect 1.5 buckets. Poplar row is no exception in this regard.
Its Latin name is Tricholoma populinum from the genus Tricholoma. When determining a poplar row from a photo and description, it is better to rely on Latin. In regions, the mushroom is called differently:
- floodplain;
- poplar;
- subtopolevik;
- poplar row;
- sandstone;
- sandpiper;
- spoilers;
- frosties.
These are the same type of poplar rows, and not different mushrooms. But other representatives of the Tricholomaceae family can also be called sandpipers and sandpipers. The fruiting bodies of tricholomas are often “hidden” underground. Hence such strange names.
But rowers, including poisonous varieties, can be found throughout coniferous and deciduous forests. The real underwater plant belongs to the group of conditionally edible plants.
What do flood mushrooms look like?
Often, poplar rows look like small mounds of earth. Some fans even look for them using rubber shoes: a hard lump can be clearly felt under the thin sole. Medium-sized leg: 2-10 cm. Most often about 4 cm high. Diameter (2-4 cm) is almost the same along the entire length. Only at the mycelium itself the stalk barely noticeably thickens.
Inside the leg is dense, without cavities, fleshy. The consistency is dry. The color is pinkish-brown (old) or pinkish-white (young). The surface can be smooth or fibrous. Covered with flocculent scales. When pressure is applied, brown spots remain on the stem.
The young topiary has a hemisphere-shaped cap. The edges are thin and curved inwards towards the stem. As it grows, the cap straightens, becomes fleshy and slightly curved. The skin is pinkish-brown. In rainy weather it becomes slippery. Cap diameter 6-12 cm.
The hymenophore of a young tortoiseshell is white; with age, the plates become pinkish-brown. The flesh is white, but under the skin of the cap it has a brownish color. At the break it turns brown. Opinions about the smell vary. Reference books usually indicate the pleasant aroma of fresh flour. But some mushroom pickers believe that the poplar row smells of soap. In fact, there is a high probability that poplar is confused with soap. The latter really smells like fruit soap.
And the reason for the discrepancies, apparently, is again confusion.
Where do floodplains grow?
Distributed in southern Russia and Siberia. They are also found in Europe. They live in symbiosis with poplars, so this species can only be found in natural poplar groves and artificial windbreaks.
The peculiarity of the poplar row is that it grows in large groups and is not found in ordinary deciduous forests. It forms a symbiosis with poplars and prefers sandy soil. But due to the fact that the experience of picking mushrooms is usually passed on from generation to generation, confusion often arises with the names.This is how various “false floodplains” appear, but in the photo in this case you can usually see a different row. And it’s also good if this species is edible.
We must remember that this row of poplars is a companion of poplars. Other rows grow in mixed and coniferous forests. Often no less tasty, but not poplar.
When floodplains grow
The collection time for floodplains is mid-August - early October. For harvesting and preparing fresh mushrooms, flood mushrooms are collected young, before the cap has yet opened. The fruiting bodies at this age are hard and contain almost no worms.
A variety of floodplains
Strictly speaking, there are no varieties of floodplains. There are more than 2,500 species of the family Ordinaceae. Some of them are considered varieties of the same mushroom. The following rows can be taken for undertopolnik:
- crowded;
- gray;
- earthy;
- green;
- brown;
- leopard print
Since these species have a similar growth mechanism (almost underground), they are often mistaken for varieties of floodplains. The fact that the growing places, descriptions and photos of these mushrooms do not coincide with sandpipers is of little concern to anyone. At most, they will be called a false sandpiper/row.
Most likely for the appearance. But the valui has not the slightest relation to the ordinary ones: it is a family of Russula. The photo shows not one of the types of floodplains, but a valui. He's a bull. It is enough to cut off the fruiting body to understand the difference: the stem of the row is dense, while that of the valuu is hollow.
What false floodplains look like
Since in fact these are simply representatives of the same family of Tricholomaceae, edible and even more valuable mushrooms are often called false flood mushrooms.At the same time, “false sandpipers”, even in the photo, cannot be confused with poplar rows. In nature, this is almost impossible if you know to which type of tree a particular type of tricholome is “attached”.
Edible rows
Quite valuable mushrooms, which generally grow either under birch trees or in coniferous forests, are mistaken for false floodplains. The adjective “false” can scare an inexperienced mushroom picker away from several edible and tasty rows:
- gray;
- green/greenfinch;
- crowded;
- matsutake.
The latter is considered a delicacy in Japan and almost all of it has already been destroyed.
Gray rower (Tricholoma portentosum)
Other names:
- little mice;
- pine tree;
- serushka;
- the row is hatched.
It differs from poplar in the gray color of the cap and the type of trees necessary for the mycelium. Mycorrhiza forms with pine. Grows in coniferous and mixed forests. Like poplar, it loves sand. Can be found together with the greenfinch.
The fruiting seasons for mouse and poplar rows coincide in September-October. But in the south of Russia the gray lily grows right up to frost and is never found under poplars.
A good video of a forest where there are no floodplains, but a lot of gray rows.
Green rower (Tricholoma equestre)
She's the same:
- greenfinch;
- jaundice;
- brilliant green;
- golden;
- lemon
Grows on sandy soils in coniferous forests. Mixed ones “like” less, but they also occur. Found one at a time or in small groups of 5-8 fruiting bodies. The fruiting season is from September until frost. A common mushroom in the Northern Hemisphere.
Crowded row (Lyophyllum decastes)
Does not apply to tricholomas. It is a member of the lillophyllum family. But some of the species of this family are also called rows in everyday life.Synonyms for the names group row and crowded lyophyllum.
Young poplar and group rows can be confused. They have similar shape and color. But lyophyllum is smaller in size. There is nothing wrong with the confusion, since both species are edible.
Matsutake (Tricholoma matsutake)
There are no synonyms. The name means "pine mushroom" in Japanese. Grows in symbiosis with coniferous trees. The main condition for the survival of this species is infertile soil. If the quality of the soil improves, there is a large amount of rotting organic residues, and the fungus dies.
Distributed in the northern regions of Eurasia and America. It is imported to Japan from Scandinavia and Finland.
Externally, matsutake is very similar to poplar row, but differs in smell and taste. Depending on the region, the aroma of the mushroom is either pine or cinnamon-like.
Inedible rows
Among the true rows of the genus Tricholoma there are relatively few of them. But the Tricholomov family also includes genera of talkers and honey fungus.
In the latter, the most famous is the false honey fungus. Among the talkers there are many poisonous species, but they differ from real rowers by their concave caps. It is difficult to confuse talkers with edible rows.
But among tricholomas there are poisonous species. The most similar to the poplar row is the spotted one. You still need to try to confuse the leopard mushroom with other types of mushrooms except fly agarics.
Spotted rower (Tricholoma pessundatum)
Second name: ruined. Slightly poisonous mushroom. If confused with edible rows, it can cause poisoning. It is dangerous because it is very similar to poplar. The cap is brown, the smell and taste are mealy, like that of the tortoiseshell.
What saves you from poisoning is that this mushroom also grows in forests with coniferous trees. It can only be found near poplars if pine, spruce and other similar trees grow nearby. Grows throughout Eurasia and North America. The fruiting season is from September.
Leopard leopard (Tricholoma pardinum)
She is tiger and poisonous. It is easy to confuse it with the serushka, but not with the subtopolevik. The hat of the poisonous row of different variants is gray. The leopard or tiger row is named for the characteristic pattern of the cap formed by the skin bursting during growth. The network of cracks resembles leopard spots or tiger stripes.
Grows in coniferous and beech forests, preferring calcareous soil. Rarely seen. Distributed on the Eurasian and North American continents. It is quite rare. Fruiting season is August-October.
Are podtopolnik mushrooms edible or not?
Podtopolniki are non-poisonous mushrooms. If they are not confused with the brown row. It is considered poisonous due to its bitter taste. No one has yet decided to conduct an experiment and find out whether it is edible or not.
Poplars are edible only after preliminary preparation. And it’s not even about the unpleasant taste, but about the soil particles. It’s not for nothing that these mushrooms are called sandpipers. Most of them grow underground. When harvested, many soil particles remain on the fruiting bodies.
The benefits and harms of flood mushrooms
The pharmaceutical industry receives the main benefit from poplar tricholomes. They are used to make antibiotics that can fight Koch's bacillus. Poplars are rich in vitamins A, C, B. But how much a person is able to absorb these vitamins is unknown. There is an opinion that mushroom pulp is poorly absorbed by the human gastrointestinal tract and comes out practically unchanged.But even in this case, the benefits are undeniable: mushrooms stimulate intestinal function.
There is also another belief: poplar rows can replace meat. But this opinion applies to the entire department of Basidiomycetes. And the obstacle is the same as with vitamins: the human gastrointestinal tract is not able to break down and absorb fungal cells. But if this somehow succeeds, then yes, meat can be replaced.
There is no more harm from poplar rows than from other edible mushrooms: they are able to absorb harmful substances from the environment. Floodpolks collected along the road can cause serious poisoning. Any higher mushrooms are considered heavy food. In case of overeating, the following are possible:
- flatulence;
- pain and heaviness in the stomach.
Poplar rows are no exception, so you shouldn’t overuse them either.
Rules for collecting poplar rows
When collecting sandpipers in an artificial poplar strip, you need to pay attention to the distance from busy roads. You need to go deeper into the forest at a distance of at least half a kilometer. If the collection takes place in windbreaks, then you will have to go 1-1.5 km from the road, since harmful substances spread further over the fields.
It is better to collect the poplar variety of rows on a cool day after the rains. Then you can reap a truly large harvest. Only young fruiting bodies should be taken. They have pink hymenophores and caps that have not yet opened.
When you find an old specimen, it makes sense to carefully examine the area around it. Most likely, entire groups of young poplars are hiding under the soil nearby.
Consumption of poplar mushrooms
Conditionally edible poplar rows cannot be used for cooking immediately after collection.They are pre-soaked for at least a day in cold water. This helps clean young mushrooms from soil particles and remove bitterness.
The water should not be higher than 16°C so that the harvested crop does not ferment. To better remove bitterness and ensure good rinsing, the poplar rows are periodically stirred and the water is changed frequently. Another way to reduce the bitter taste is to remove the skin from the caps.
After soaking for 1-3 days, the poplar rows are boiled and the water is drained. After all the excess water has drained from the boiled mushrooms, the semi-finished product is ready for use.
Poplar rowing is universal. It can be:
- fry;
- cook;
- marinate;
- salt.
Marinated and salted, they are used for making salads and as a snack. Can be used in any recipe with mushrooms.
Conclusion
Poplar row is a valuable mushroom that should not be looked for in pine forests. Its “attachment” to poplar trees protects mushroom pickers from poisoning by poisonous species of rows, which can grow together with edible ones in a pine forest or mixed forest.
Reviews about poplar rowing
In our country, poplar row is almost the only mushroom that can be collected in large quantities. There are no forests, there are only fields around with those same windbreaks. Poplars were planted back then because they grew quickly. In season, floodplains are used in all dishes. But it is better to process it immediately after returning home. And large containers are needed for soaking.
In our village they are dried, pickled, and salted. It is undesirable to freeze because of the soil. Then you can’t remove it from the frozen row. After defrosting, the mushroom tissues are damaged and spread.
We were tempted to go for poplar rows. You still need to eat something, but they said they were very good. And you can type quickly and a lot. I don't know, maybe we did something wrong?
We really collected a lot and quickly. But when they cooked it... these mushrooms had a very strange taste. Not bitterness, which would be understandable, but as if one had eaten too much soap. Fragrant toilet. Well, maybe they really didn’t recruit poplar ones, but some others. Then it’s good that you didn’t get poisoned.
