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The gall mushroom, false porcini mushroom, or bitterling, is also popularly known as “false boletus.” However, this name does not entirely correspond to the truth. The gall mushroom and the common boletus are fairly distant relatives (only at the level of the general Boletaceae family), but outwardly they are very easy to confuse. Despite the fact that the false boletus is not poisonous, it is also inedible, since its pulp has a specific, very bitter taste.Even a few pieces of such a mushroom, once in a dish, can spoil it, and, if eaten, can cause digestive upset.
When going into the forest for boletus mushrooms, you should know how to identify and distinguish false doubles from them, so that catch from a “silent hunt” does not spoil your pleasure or cause harm to your health.
What mushrooms can boletus be confused with?
In fact, boletus mushrooms are a group of several dozen species of mushrooms belonging to the genus Obabok, or Leccinum. All of them are edible and tasty. They are united by convex caps, which acquire a cushion-shaped shape with age, the color of which varies in a brown or gray-white color palette. The legs of boletus mushrooms are light, long, and have a slight thickening at the bottom. The longitudinal scales are clearly visible on them - a characteristic pattern slightly reminiscent of the colors of birch bark. Their flesh is light, uniformly colored and does not change color when broken.
Boletus mushrooms are usually found on clay and sandy soils, in deciduous forests and birch forests. They appear in abundance after rain. They can often be found under poplar or aspen trees. It happens that boletuses, another group of species of the same genus Obabok, are mistaken for these mushrooms. This is not scary, since both of them are edible, but it still doesn’t hurt to know how they differ. Thus, the cap of the boletus is painted in red or orange tones, and the massive leg is evenly wide along its entire length. Its pulp is coarser and denser than that of boletus, and besides, it quickly turns blue at the site of the break.
The boletus collection season begins at the end of June and lasts until the beginning of November.
At the same time, you can also stumble upon false boletus mushrooms, also known as gall or bitter mushrooms. These “doubles” are not poisonous, but they cannot be eaten. The main reason is the extremely bitter taste of their pulp, which only intensifies during any culinary processing. If such a false boletus accidentally ends up in a dish being prepared, the latter, unfortunately, will have to be thrown away. And if it so happens that a sample is taken from the food, it is worth taking measures to prevent a possible deterioration in health.
Photo and description of false boletus
In the photo below is a false boletus, or gall mushroom.
It is a tubular species of the genus Tilopil. It is characterized by a cap from 4 to 10 cm in diameter, colored in bright yellow-brown, gray-ocher or brown. In a young specimen it is convex, hemispherical in shape, but in an old specimen it can become flat or cushion-shaped, with a dry surface, most often velvety to the touch.
The leg of the false boletus is fibrous, massive, from 3 to 13 cm long and 1.5-3 cm thick. It has a characteristic swelling in the lower part, which is why it is shaped a little like a mace. The color of the leg is usually creamy ocher, yellowish or brown; a darker mesh is clearly visible on its surface.
The pulp of the gall mushroom is white, practically odorless and very bitter in taste. At the break, it either does not change color at all or turns a little red.
How to distinguish false boletus from edible ones
Despite all the external similarities at first glance, false boletus and edible boletus have a number of characteristic differences. There are a few key points to remember:
- False boletuses are almost never wormy. There is no damage caused by insects.
- The surface of the cap of a real boletus is shiny and smooth. In the false one, it feels like velvet to the touch.
- The color of the skin on the surface of the cap of the edible specimen is rich, but muted. In false boletus, the skin of the cap is usually brightly colored, and if you look closely, you can notice a characteristic greenish tint.
- The underside of the cap of the edible boletus, in contrast to its false brother, is painted white underneath, sometimes with a cream tint. In bitterling, it is pink: young mushrooms have a delicate tone, old mushrooms have a dirty tone.
- The scaly pattern on the surface of the leg of a real boletus resembles birch bark. The false leg is decorated with dark veins, similar to a network of blood vessels.
- The flesh of the edible boletus does not change color when broken. The cap of the false one at the site of the incision, as a rule, turns red, and its leg darkens when damaged.
To do this, it is advised to cut off the fruiting body and touch the pulp with the tip of your tongue. The edible boletus pulp has no taste, but its distinct bitterness will help you recognize the gall fungus. However, this diagnostic method is unsafe: even though bittersweet is not poisonous, there is always the possibility that another mushroom was mistakenly mistaken for it, which, in turn, may turn out to be toxic.
The video will tell you more about what false boletus looks like and how to distinguish it from the edible mushrooms that it resembles:
Symptoms of false boletus poisoning and first aid
Cases of poisoning by false boletus mushrooms have not been described in detail.The strong bitterness that manifests itself in any dish that contains at least a small piece of gall fungus by mistake eliminates the possibility that a person will be able to eat any dangerous amount of the product. However, there is an opinion that the toxins of the false boletus, even in small quantities, in some cases can cause a malfunction of the digestive organs or an upset stomach.
In any case, you should remember the first signs of mushroom poisoning. They may be:
- weakness;
- dizziness;
- nausea;
- heartburn;
- diarrhea.
If these symptoms appear, the victim should:
- rinse the stomach by drinking 3-4 glasses of warm, clean water and causing a gag reflex;
- take an absorbent as soon as possible (5-6 tablets of activated carbon);
- if there are no loose stools in the first hours after poisoning, you should take a saline laxative or give a cleansing enema;
- lie down in bed, cover yourself with a blanket, apply warm heating pads to your legs and arms;
- for nausea and vomiting, drink small sips of warm water in which table salt is dissolved (1 teaspoon per 1 glass);
- in case of weakness, drink strong tea with sugar or honey, black coffee;
- be sure to consult a doctor.
In particular, you should hurry to seek qualified medical help if the poisoned person experiences increased signs of intoxication:
- temperature increase;
- vomit;
- increasing abdominal pain;
- hallucinations and clouding of consciousness.
Delaying or underestimating the danger in case of mushroom poisoning can seriously affect human health and even cost life.
Conclusion
False boletus, or gall mushroom, cannot be eaten - it has an unpleasant taste, very bitter flesh. However, it is often confused with the edible boletus, which is popular and beloved among mushroom pickers. However, these mushrooms are similar only at first glance. Having studied them more carefully, you can find a number of significant differences in the color of the cap, the texture of the skin covering it, the color of the pores on its underside, the shape of the stem and the pattern on it, and the color of the flesh at the break. Remembering which signs characterize a real boletus and which are false, the mushroom picker will not be mistaken when determining what exactly he has discovered. In this case, his “catch” will not spoil the mushroom dish and will not cause harm to health. But if it so happens that mushroom poisoning does occur, you need to know how it manifests itself, immediately provide first aid to the victim and be sure to consult a doctor.
