Content
Deer truffle (Elaphomyces granulatus) is an inedible mushroom of the Elaphomycetes family. The species has other names:
- reindeer raincoat;
- granular truffle;
- elaphomyces granulosa;
- parga;
- couple;
- blizzard.
The reindeer truffle is readily eaten by squirrels, hares and deer, which is where its Latin name comes from. "Elapho" means "deer" and "myces" means "mushroom".
Reindeer truffle looks like a potato tuber
What does a venison truffle look like?
The fruiting bodies of the deer truffle develop shallowly underground - in the humus layer at a level of 2-8 cm. They are characterized by an irregular spherical shape, the surface of the mushroom may be wrinkled. The size of the fruiting bodies reaches 1-4 cm in diameter. The deer truffle is covered with a dense two-layer white shell (peridium) 1-2 mm thick. When cut, the flesh of the crust changes color to pinkish-gray.The outside of the mushroom is strewn with small warts, which explains its specific epithet “granulatus”. The superficial tubercles are pyramid-shaped, about 0.4 mm high. The outer layer of the granular truffle can be:
- yellowish brown;
- ocher-brown;
- yellowish-ocher;
- golden brown;
- rusty brown;
- dark brown.
Young specimens have light marbled flesh, divided into compartments by partitions. As it matures, the inside of the mushroom turns into a dark purple or purple-brown dust. Microscopic spores are spherical in shape with spines, and the color varies from red-brown to almost black.
The pulp has a bitter taste. The smell is earthy, well-defined, somewhat reminiscent of raw potatoes.
Deer truffle mycelium permeates the soil around the fruiting bodies. Its yellow threads are densely woven into the soil and entwined around the roots of trees. The parga mushroom can be detected by the presence in the forest of another species that parasitizes it - cordyceps ophioglossoides (Tolypocladium ophioglossoides). Its black club-shaped fruiting bodies indicate that deer truffles may be found at depths of up to 15 cm.
Hordyceps ophiroglossoides is a fungus that feeds on the remains of the fruiting bodies of underground fungi of the genus Tolipocladium
Where does the reindeer truffle mushroom grow?
Parga is the most common mushroom of the genus Elaphomyces. The stag truffle is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the tropics to the subarctic. The range covers Europe and North America, China, Taiwan, and the islands of Japan.
The deer truffle prefers to settle in the coastal zone, although it is sometimes found in mountainous areas at an altitude of 2700-2800 m above sea level.The mushroom loves acidic sandy or podzolic soil. It often grows in virgin reserve forests, less often in young plantings.
It forms mycorrhiza with coniferous trees, as well as with some deciduous trees, such as:
- oak;
- beech;
- chestnut.
Deer truffle can be found at any time of the year, depending on the region of growth. The most widespread fruiting of parga is observed in late summer and early autumn.
The destruction of old-growth forests has a detrimental effect on staghorn truffle populations. And although it is considered quite common, it is becoming rare in some European countries. For example, in Bulgaria the representative is listed in the Red Book as a species that is critically endangered.
Is it possible to eat venison truffle?
Reindeer truffle is not recommended for consumption. However, forest inhabitants feed on its fruiting bodies, which they dig out of the ground. A squirrel can smell parga under a layer of snow 70-80 cm thick. These rodents not only eat fresh mushrooms, gnawing on the shell, but also store them for the winter. Hunters use parga as bait.
The nutritional value of this species is low. The Cascade ground squirrel can only digest 30% of its proteins. Fruit bodies are capable of accumulating large amounts of cesium, with the shell containing 8.6 times more cesium than spores. Enormous amounts of radioactive nuclide cesium-137 entered the environment as a result of the man-made disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that occurred in 1986. The consequences of the accident still have a negative impact on the environmental situation in some European countries.
Elaphomyces granulosa at the Moscow Mushroom Exhibition
Although parga cannot be eaten, it has found use in folk medicine. Siberian healers called the representative nothing more than “the elixir of the mushroom queen.” Drugs based on it were considered a strong aphrodisiac and were used to restore strength after a serious illness or injury. A mixture of pine nuts, honey and crushed parga was used to cure consumption and other diseases. In Poland, doctors gave childless couples a mushroom tincture in red wine. Unfortunately, the exact recipes for these medicines have been lost.
Conclusion
Having found a stag truffle in the forest, which looks like a walnut with numerous pimples on the surface, there is no need to dig it up for fun or idle interest. The mushroom serves as food for many species of forest animals and will definitely appeal to, if not bears, then hares, squirrels and ungulates.
