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Parchment milkweed, or milkweed, is a mushroom of the genus Mlechnikov, family Russula. In Latin it is called Lactarius pergamenus. It is an independent variety of pepper milk mushroom. For this reason, it is also called parchment-pepper mushroom. It is classified as a conditionally edible species. They are eaten salted, and before that they are soaked for a long time to remove the bitterness.
Description of parchment milk mushrooms
This species got its name because of several features: “milk” - because it is most often found in heaps, piles, and parchment - because of the parchment-matte surface of the cap and stem.
Description of the cap
The dimensions of the dense, fleshy cap usually reach 10 cm in diameter. But in some sources there is information that individual specimens grow up to 20 cm. Young mushrooms have a convex cap shape. As it grows, its edges rise more and more upward, creating a funnel-shaped shape. The center is concave. The cap is dry to the touch and may be wrinkled or smooth. The skin color is white, yellowish in adult specimens, sometimes with darker, ocher spots.
Milky parchment belongs to the lamellar mushrooms. It has adherent, narrow, frequent plates painted in a creamy, white, yellowish tint.
The pulp is dense, white. Produces a large amount of milky juice. It does not change its white color when cut.
Description of the leg
The leg is strong, dense, smooth. Regardless of the degree of maturity of the fruiting body, the stem is always white. Its shape is cylindrical, tapering at the bottom. Height - from 5 to 10 cm. The leg is solid inside and does not have a characteristic “hole”. It also exudes milky juice abundantly. The liquid is very caustic and white.
Where and how does it grow
The growth area of the parchment milk mushroom is a huge territory of the temperate climate zone from Western Europe to the eastern part of Siberia. The species often grows in the vicinity of pepper milk mushrooms. But unlike them, which prefer only mixed forests with a predominance of oaks and birches, parchment milkweed is found in deciduous and mixed forests. Very rarely it can be found among conifers.It forms mycorrhizae with both deciduous and coniferous plants.
Prefers calcareous soils. Forming large colonies, it can withstand even drought conditions. Thanks to this feature, it feels comfortable both on open edges and in the thick of the forest.
The fruiting period occurs in August - September, often in very large groups.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
From the point of view of edibility and taste, the species cannot be considered a first-class mushroom. Conditionally edible parchment milkweeds have a bitter taste. To remove it, the pulp is thoroughly soaked. After this, the mushrooms acquire nutritional value; according to their nutritional value, they are classified in the fourth category.
Preparing parchment milk mushrooms for the winter requires adherence to technology so that bacteria do not enter the jars during salting. Eating spoiled food is dangerous due to the development of botulism.
Doubles and their differences
The parchment milkweed has no poisonous or inedible counterparts. Externally, it shows very strong similarities with several species.
Pepper milk mushroom
The similarity is so great that it is considered a variety of pepper milk mushroom. The latter still has several differences:
- smooth, not wrinkled surface of the cap;
- shorter leg, up to 7 cm;
- staining of the juice on the cut with a yellowish tint, this sign does not always appear;
- The size of the cap can be much larger, up to 30 cm.
Felt and bluish milk mushroom
Other representatives of the Mlechniki genus similar to the parchment milk mushroom are the felt and bluish milk mushrooms. The first one is distinguished by the surface of the cap; it is “shaggy”. In the second, the juice turns greenish when exposed to air.
However, even the confusion of these species is not of great importance for the reason that they all belong to the same family and are conditionally edible. They can be eaten after proper processing.
Interesting facts about parchment weight
Real lovers of quiet hunting can tell you a lot of interesting facts about the parchment weight:
- The species is extremely rare. In the Moscow region it was even included in the Red Book.
- It is not easy to study not only because it is difficult to detect in the forest, but also because of its similarity to the pepper milkweed.
- Salted milk mushrooms have beneficial properties: they relieve inflammation, help with lung diseases, and they are also used in folk medicine to prevent stone formation in the bladder, gall bladder, and kidneys.
- Mushrooms are rich in vitamin D, and therefore have a beneficial effect on the immune system, skin and hair.
Conclusion
The parchment mushroom, although it can be found infrequently and can easily be confused with its relatives, is valued by mushroom pickers because it is almost never affected by worms. And salted milk mushrooms always take pride of place among mushroom preparations for the winter.
