Content
Ruby butterfly (Suillus rubinus) is an edible tubular mushroom from the Boletaceae family. The species differs from other representatives of the genus in the characteristic color of the hymenophore and legs, which have a juicy lingonberry-pink hue.
What does a ruby oiler look like?
Ruby oiler has a number of other names given to it at different times by botanists from Germany and other European countries where it is widespread:
- ruby mushroom;
- ruby pepper mushroom;
- ruby flywheel;
- rubinoboletus;
- Chalciporus ruby.
Scientists have agreed on one thing - the ruby color most accurately conveys the color of the lower part of the oiler’s cap and the surface of its stem.
Description of the cap
Suillus rubinus is a small mushroom with a cap diameter of 4-8 cm. Young specimens have a hemispherical or rounded cap, but with age it opens up, turning into a flat, cushion-shaped one. The sharp wavy edges of the cap turn out and bend upward. The skin covering the upper part of the cap is dry, feels like suede, and cannot be removed with a knife. In dry weather, cracks may appear on it; in rainy weather, it is covered with a thin layer of mucus. The color of the cap can be:
- brick;
- yellowish brown;
- carmine red;
- brownish yellow.
The flesh of the cap has several shades: under the skin it is bright yellow, in the middle part it is yellowish, and next to the tubular layer it is pink. When the mushroom is cut from the upper part of the stem, the color of the flesh does not change.
The lower part of the cap (hymenophore) is a tubular structure with large pores, painted in a rich red-pink color. When pressed, the color of the tubes does not change. Reproduction of the ruby oiler is carried out through microscopic round or broadly elliptical ocher-colored spores that form in a brownish spore powder.
Description of the leg
The ruby oiler has a strong, low stem, shaped like a mace or cylinder, tapering towards the base. Its diameter usually does not exceed 3 cm, the average height is 3-6 cm. Specimens with a curved leg are often found. The surface is smooth, in rare cases pubescent, painted in a thin, subtle mesh pattern of carmine-pink color, the bottom is ocher-yellow. When a longitudinal section of the mushroom is made, you can see that the flesh of the stem has a non-uniform color. At the base it is rich yellow, the rest is pinkish.
The ruby oiler is rarely found in Russia; it is considered a new species, its habitat is still subject to study and monitoring. Despite the lack of data, the ruby oiler is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.
Is Ruby Butter Edible or Not?
Rubinoboletus is an edible mushroom with good taste. In terms of nutritional value, it belongs to group 2, along with edible champignon, oak, boletus and other types of boletus. Its pulp does not have a distinct smell or taste; some specimens have a barely noticeable bitterness. The chemical composition of the ruby oiler includes:
- vitamin B2 (riboflavin);
- vitamin B6;
- carbohydrates;
- lecithin;
- amino acids;
- fatty acid;
- essential oils.
100 g of product contains only 19.2 kcal; consumption of boletus helps remove uric acid from the body and reduce cholesterol levels. However, biologists strongly recommend refraining from collecting these mushrooms, since the species is on the verge of extinction.
Where and how does the ruby oiler grow?
Rubinoboletus is common in some European countries; it is extremely rare in the Russian Federation, mainly in the Far East and Transcaucasia. The only confirmed place where this mushroom grows in Russia is the forest belt in the vicinity of the village. Oatmeal in the Amur region.
The mushroom prefers oak or mixed forests with a predominance of birch, beech, linden, chestnut, hawthorn, and holly. In rare cases, it grows in a pine forest with a small admixture of deciduous trees. This type of butterfly can be found in the undergrowth with a dense forb cover, where a large number of cereals are present.It loves fertile soil, most often found on silty loams, on floodplains and in places where livestock regularly grazes.
Ruby boletus are mushrooms that grow singly or in groups of 2-3. Cases of the development of mycelium Suillus rubinus on well-decomposed oak wood have been recorded. Rubinoboletus does not bear fruit every year; the best conditions for active growth are warm and stormy summers and early autumn.
Inexperienced mushroom pickers may confuse the ruby butterdish only with a gall mushroom. The species are similar in the structure of the fruiting body, but the twin does not have the characteristic pinkish color of the stem, and the tubular layer becomes red-brown when pressed.
How to prepare ruby butter
The mushroom is eaten after heat treatment. Butter is good when fried, boiled, stewed, salted and pickled. They can also be dried.
Conclusion
The ruby butterdish is an object of study and close attention of Russian mycologists. If you find it in the forest, it is better to leave the mushroom intact so that the species does not disappear forever. In places where Suillus rubinus grows, you can easily find other species that are not inferior to it in nutritional value and taste.
