Content
- 1 What trees do honey mushrooms grow on?
- 2 What do hemp mushrooms look like?
- 3 Photo and description of hemp mushrooms
- 4 Why do honey mushrooms settle on stumps?
- 5 How honey mushrooms begin to grow on a stump
- 6 How many days does it take for hemp mushrooms to grow?
- 7 Where to collect hemp mushrooms
- 8 When to collect hemp mushrooms
- 9 Conclusion
Hemp mushrooms have many varieties and forms of growth. The most famous and very useful of them are honey mushrooms on stumps. Multiple reasons for their popularity among amateurs and professional mushroom pickers include the rare taste qualities that only this mushroom possesses, and the ease of harvesting, because it grows in multiple colonies around stumps. According to most professional chefs, any honey mushroom is edible, but this is not entirely true.
What trees do honey mushrooms grow on?
Regardless of edibility and growing season, hemp mushrooms appear on both dead and living trees. In particular, they breed on rotten or damaged wood. However, mountain regions are characterized by the appearance of honey mushrooms on coniferous trees: spruce, cedar, pine and larch. Such mushrooms are distinguished during tasting by their bitter aftertaste and dark-colored stem, which does not in any way affect their nutritional value.Summer varieties from forest areas grow up to 7 cm in height with a stalk diameter of 1 cm. Usually the stalk has a steep velum and is covered with small scales.
Photos of honey mushrooms on trees that have suffered disease or mechanical damage:
What do hemp mushrooms look like?
Such mushrooms are difficult to confuse with other mycelium, because they have characteristic distinctive features. Poisonous analogues are also distinguished by certain characteristics, so it is almost impossible to get poisoned by mushrooms. It is worth noting that inedible hemp mushrooms are characterized by a low level of toxicity, which makes them dangerous with a low degree of poisoning. Basically, the autumn honey fungus parasitizes trees and affects over 200 species per year. Colonies of the fungus can be recognized by the ringed growth pattern around the stump. Single copies are extremely rare.
Autumn honey fungus grows for only a few months on the stumps of felled birch trees. Popularly it has received several names: autumn mushroom, honey fungus, Uspensky mushroom. It is found in swampy birch forests, where there are a lot of rotten trees and stumps. In coniferous areas, honey mushrooms are rare, although you can find clusters of them near old spruce trees. Winter hemp mycelium grows at the base of any felled tree on the north side, in swampy areas.
Photo and description of hemp mushrooms
Like any forest mushroom, honey fungus has several false doubles, which you need to be able to identify by appearance. With such knowledge, the risk of poisoning from the harvest is eliminated. Each species grows under certain weather conditions. Also, external characteristics have their own characteristics, which prevents an edible mushroom from being confused with a poisonous one.
False hemp mushrooms
Preferably, inedible honey mushrooms grow on rotten stumps, which during life were affected by root rot, cancer or earthen insects. In appearance, the fruiting body can be distinguished by its bright cap, which has a delicate pinkish or yellowish-brown tint. The most dangerous ones are always bright brown or orange in color, with the exception of color being the sulfur-yellow honey fungus. The surface of the cap is smooth, without scales. The mushroom is slippery to the touch and becomes sticky after rain. There is no abrupt velum under the cap; the spore plates quickly acquire a dirty olive, green or blue tint. I advise mushroom pickers to first feel the aroma of the mycelium, and if there is a smell of earth and mold, then the mycelium is poisonous. These include:
- Poppy honey fungus. It looks and tastes like summer honey fungus. Can be recognized by its bright orange stem, which turns yellow closer to the cap. The height of the mycelium reaches 8-10 cm, gray plates grow to the stem.
- Brick red. It is considered conditionally edible and is very bitter when tasting. The cap is large with a red-brown color, growing up to 10 cm in diameter. When cut, the stem of the mushroom is hollow.
- Sulfur yellow. A mushroom with a small pale yellow cap and a high stem - 10-12 cm. It has a pungent and unpleasant odor. Grows in numerous colonies on forest stumps. The young mycelium grows in the form of a bell.
Edible hemp mushrooms
By their nature, honey mushrooms feed on the remains of stumps that have not been infected with a serious disease. Edible mycelium is characterized by its appearance - a thin stalk with a ring of film from the middle of the mushroom.The color of the honey mushroom pulp depends on the area where the stump grows. Colonies growing near poplar have a copper-yellow hue, on stumps of coniferous trees - reddish or brown, on oak or elderberry - brown, gray. Healthy plates are always creamy or yellowish-white. Mushrooms are endowed with a subtle clove aroma and a sweet and sour aftertaste. They grow in the same forests as their inedible counterparts and can coexist on nearby stumps, which does not in any way affect the quality of real mushrooms.
Harmless honey mushrooms are usually called autumn, winter, summer and meadow varieties of mycelium. The former have a characteristic and memorable cap, the surface of which is covered with small scales. The fruit body has a pleasant mushroom aroma, the consistency of the stem is light yellow and fibrous. The autumn season of hemp mushrooms begins at the end of August and lasts until mid-October. Summer and meadow ones are very similar in appearance: medium-sized mycelium with a cap diameter of 5 cm and a stem height of up to 10 cm, found in meadows and forests. The only difference: meadows do not grow on stumps; their family appears in the shape of a circle in small clusters.
A bright representative of winter mushrooms appears with the beginning of the winter thaw on old poplar or willow stumps. The mushroom stems are hollow and velvety to the touch. The fruiting body grows up to 8 cm in height and 3-4 cm in diameter. The hat has a glossy sheen and is ocher-brown in color. The stem is hollow, the flesh is not bitter, and gives off a pleasant smell. The spore plates are always light brown or cream in color.
Why do honey mushrooms settle on stumps?
Since honey mushrooms belong to the class of parasitic fungi, it is logical to assume that a favorable habitat for them is a stump affected by the disease. Honey mushrooms found on a tree trunk indicate the presence of an infection that has already penetrated deeply into the trunk. The mycelium does not grow immediately, but with its appearance, accelerated destruction of the wood occurs. First, the development of saprophytes occurs, then the basidal fruiting bodies appear. They transform the habitat from acidic to alkaline, after which cap mushrooms grow and the tree completely loses its shape. Therefore, honey mushrooms grow on stumps for only a few years, then the habitat loses value. Also, the stump of a dead tree is rich in cellulose, which the mycelium feeds on. This type of parasitic fungus can be called a forest orderly, because thanks to their growth and reproduction, young trees remain healthy.
How honey mushrooms begin to grow on a stump
When a tree receives mechanical damage or becomes infected with a disease, a gradual process of death of the bark and other parts of the trunk begins. Each variety of honey mushroom has its own habitat preferences. The false mushroom develops only on dead wood of coniferous trees; edible specimens can be found almost anywhere in a certain season. Mycelial growth begins when spores enter the site of damage. Next comes the development of imperfect microorganisms that feed on residual living cells. They then progress into the basidal mycelium. The habitat is acidified, and intermediate decomposition products go into food. As soon as cellulose reserves are depleted, other types of parasitic fungi appear that break down protein and fiber.At the stage of loss of shape and integrity, the tree becomes rotten, overgrown with moss and other microorganisms, which ultimately leads to the beginning of the development of honey mushrooms. They mineralize organic cells, thereby surviving off the dead stump.
How many days does it take for hemp mushrooms to grow?
Mycelium growth and its speed depend on factors such as habitat temperature, humidity, and the presence of beneficial organisms. Favorable air temperature for germination of fruiting bodies is from + 14 to + 25 ° C. It is worth noting that this is a suitable climate for meadow mushrooms. For varieties of autumn, winter and spring honey mushrooms that grow on stumps, + 3 °C is enough for the development of spores to begin. In such conditions, fruiting bodies germinate in 2-3 days. If the temperature reaches + 28 °C, the processes stop. When there is good soil moisture in the range of 50-60% and an acceptable temperature, the mushrooms actively grow and bear fruit several times during the season. The leg's pace may stop for 24 hours if worms or insects are present in the soil. Full ripening occurs on days 5-6.
After the autumn rain, you can go out for honey mushrooms for 2-3 days. It is also worth considering September and October fogs. After their retreat, you can notice an increase in the yield on the stumps. Autumn species can be found in November if the temperature was above zero. Here, the catalyst for growth is humidity, which honey mushrooms often lack. As for winter varieties, they can delay growth at the time of frost and continue it when the air temperature reaches 0 or + 7 ° C.
Where to collect hemp mushrooms
On the territory of Russia there are many climatic zones where you can find colonies of mycelium of any variety.Again, the arrangement of families depends on convenience and favorable conditions. Autumn species grow on coniferous wood, fallen trees, and are common in completely coniferous and mixed forests. Summer and spring hemp mushrooms primarily grow in deciduous forests. They can often be found on tree trunks: oak, birch, acacia, poplar, ash or maple. Winter mushrooms prefer oak stumps, on which it is advantageous to reproduce due to the nutritional value of the wood.
When to collect hemp mushrooms
The harvest season depends on the climatic factor in a particular area. You can go hunting for spring mushrooms from April to May. Along with edible specimens, you can find false mushrooms growing on trees similar to honey mushrooms. The summer harvest occurs in July and August. Then the autumn species begin to grow actively, from about the end of August to the beginning of November. Winter ones are rare, but if you go in search of mycelium in November or December, you can collect 1-2 layers of fruiting bodies.
Conclusion
Mushroom pickers find honey mushrooms on stumps more often than other, more valuable varieties. They have a memorable aroma and appearance, so it is almost impossible to confuse them with their poisonous counterparts. Mushrooms are rich in vitamins and macroelements, which are rarely found in such quantities in natural products. It is worth remembering that without knowledge of false doubles, a mushroom picker must conduct a quiet hunt with caution.
