Content
Negnium mushroom is an inedible mushroom belonging to the Negnium family and the genus of the same name. Other names: bristle-footed garlic, stamen-shaped.
What does the rotting stamen look like?
The bristle-footed garlic is a small lamellar mushroom on a thin stalk.
Description of the cap
The diameter of the cap is from 0.4 to 1 cm, maximum up to 1.5 cm. At first it is convex, hemispherical or in the form of a blunt cone. Gradually becomes flattened, depressed in the center.The surface is covered with radial grooves, more pronounced towards the edges.
The young non-rotting stamen has a whitish cap. As it ripens, it acquires a gray-cream, yellowish-brownish-brown, pinkish or gray-brown color. It is darker in the center - chocolate brown or dark pinkish brown.
The plates are sparse, narrow, adherent to the stem, sometimes intertwined. They do not form a ring around the leg, but descend along it, while in other non-rotting plants they form a so-called collarium and grow to it. The plates are the same color as the cap - pinkish-yellow or pinkish-brown.
The spore powder of the rotten stamen is white.
The spores are almond-shaped, ellipsoidal or teardrop-shaped.
The pulp is thin, the color of the cap. The smell is not pronounced, according to some sources it is unpleasant.
Description of the leg
Height – from 2 to 5 cm, diameter – up to 1 mm. The leg is thin, thread-like, shiny, hard. Its surface is covered with scales. The color is reddish-brown to black, the upper part is whitish.
Where and how does it grow
The stamen plant grows in large colonies consisting of a huge number of specimens. It settles mainly on fallen small branches of coniferous trees (prefers spruce, fir, pine, larch). Grows on dry leaves of oak and birch, the remains of shrubs (crowberry, heather), some herbaceous plants (northern linnaea, cotton grass). Found in wastelands and sand dunes. It can be found on old wood, mainly coniferous. Sometimes it appears on living plants, entwining them with plexuses of fungal threads - rhizomorphs.
Forms thick and dense weaves of hyphae. They occupy free substrate, making it suitable for other plants to inhabit.
After warm, heavy rains, in places completely covered with old pine needles, impressive colonies of spade garlic appear.
The fruiting time of the mushroom is from June to September. In Russia it is distributed throughout the forest zone.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
The rotten stamen is considered an inedible mushroom. There is no information about its toxicity; it is possible that it does not contain toxins.
Doubles and their differences
Negniyuchnik stamen has similarities with micromphale dentata. The main differences of the latter are the sharp unpleasant smell of rotten cabbage and the felt structure of the stem.
Another similar species is the wheel-shaped white rotting plant. It is classified as inedible and presumably not poisonous. It is small but somewhat large in size. The cap is from 0.5 to 1.5 cm in diameter, a very thin stem 8 cm high. It has a similar cap shape (first in the form of a hemisphere, then spread out). When young it is completely white, when mature it is yellowish-grayish. The plates are adherent, but not to the leg, but to a small ring around it - the collarium. The pulp has a pungent odor. It is found in areas with high humidity and grows in large groups. Settles on litter of pine needles and leaves, on fallen trees.
The spade garlic can be confused with Gymnopus quercophilus. The main difference is the place of growth. Gymnopus can be found exclusively on the leaves of broad-leaved trees such as chestnut, oak, maple, and beech. The mycelium of this fungus turns the color of the substrate on which it grows pale yellow.
Conclusion
The staminate mushroom is a fairly common, very small and thin mushroom that has no nutritional value.It is believed to have medicinal properties. In China, it is grown artificially and used as an analgesic, antigentorological and general tonic. Extract and dried specimens are used. Rhizomorphs - long plexuses of hyphae (mushroom threads) - are used to prepare preparations.
