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Pluteus petasatus, Pluteus petasatus, is a lamellar mushroom from the Pluteaceae family and genus. First described and classified in 1838 as Agaricus petasatus by the Swedish mycologist Friese. Its name and affiliation changed several more times until the modern classification was established:
- in 1874 as Pluteus cervinus or Pluteus cervinuspatricius;
- in the same year it was identified as Agaricus patricius Schulzer;
- in 1904 it was given the name Pluteus patricius;
- in 1968 it was named Pluteus straminiphilus Wichansky.
What does Pluteus Noble look like?
Plyuteus the noble stands out for his height and stateliness.It looks impressive and very appetizing, has smooth, proportional shapes and a delicate, pleasing color to the eye. The fruiting body consists of a pronounced cap and stalk.
Description of the cap
The young Plyuteus nobilis has a spherical, egg-shaped cap. As it grows, it straightens from a smooth hemisphere to an umbrella-shaped shape. An overgrown mushroom has an outstretched, almost flat cap with slightly curved edges, and a fringe of plates is clearly visible. A small depression or tubercle stands out in the center. Grows from 2.5 to 18 cm.
The surface is flat, smooth, slightly shiny. Dry or slightly slimy. Colors range from dazzling white or greyish-silver, to baked milk, brownish brown or yellowish. The coloring is uneven, with spots and stripes. Dark scales in the center of the cap are clearly visible.
The plates are frequent, even, not fused. Wide, creamy-pinkish in young mushrooms, light pink and reddish-ochre, with red spots in adult specimens. The cover is missing.
The fleshy pulp is pure white, easily squeezed, and has a consistency similar to cotton wool. The smell is distinctly mushroom, the taste is slightly sweet, and in mature specimens it is sour.
Description of the leg
The leg is smooth, cylindrical in shape, slightly widening at the junction with the cap. At the base there is a pubescent brownish tubercle. The pulp is dense.The surface is dry, white and silver-grayish in color, with distinct longitudinal fibers. It grows from 4 to 12 cm in height, the diameter is from 0.4 to 2.5 cm.
Where and how does it grow
Pluteus nobilis grows everywhere, but is extremely rare. It is found in the European part of Russia, in the Krasnodar Territory, in Tatarstan, in Siberia and in the Urals. Grows in the United States and Canada, Japan and the British Isles. Loves deciduous and mixed forests, lowland and mountainous, old parks. It settles on the remains of broad-leaved trees: beech, oak, poplar, birch, aspen, in damp places hidden in the shade. It can often be found on stumps and rotting trunks, in dead wood. Occasionally it grows directly on the soil or on damaged bark, in the hollows of living trees.
Fruiting of the mycelium occurs twice a season: in June-July and September-October. In high mountain areas it manages to grow fruiting bodies only once, in July-August. Grows singly or in small, closely planted groups of 2-10 specimens.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
There is no scientific information about the edibility of the fruiting body; this issue has been little studied by specialists. Pluteus nobilis is classified as an inedible mushroom. Its pulp has a very original sweetish taste; in mature specimens it is distinctly sour.
Some modern sources claim that the noble plum is edible, moreover, it is a gourmet dish due to its specific taste.
Doubles and their differences
Pluteus nobilis is very similar to representatives of its own family and some inedible species of mushrooms; it is extremely difficult to distinguish them even for a specialist.
Pluteus white-northern. Inedible. It differs only in its smaller size and more pronounced color of the scales on the cap and stem.
Pluteus white. A little-known edible mushroom. We can distinguish them only by the shape of the spores when examined under a microscope. Its pulp has neither taste nor smell.
Pluteus deer (brown, dark fibrous). Conditionally edible mushroom of category IV. It is distinguished by its smaller size and brightly colored cap, as well as dark fibers on the stem. The pulp has an unpleasant rare odor that persists even after prolonged heat treatment.
Entoloma. Many species are toxic and poisonous. The pale-colored mushrooms of this extensive family could easily be confused with Plutaeus nobilis. They differ only in the characteristic plates fused to the stem.
Collibia broadleaf. Inedible. You can distinguish them by the yellowish color of the rarer incremented plates. At the base of the stem, tapering towards the root, there is a clearly visible constriction, often with a skirt.
Volvariella. There are toxic and edible species. They can be distinguished by the clearly visible remains of the cover at the base of the leg.
White stinking fly agaric. Inedible. It has an extremely unpleasant smell of pulp, remains of a cover on the stem and pure white plates.
Conclusion
Pluteus nobilis is quite rare, but its habitat is extremely wide; the mushroom is cosmopolitan. Settles on half-rotted wood, bark and forest litter of deciduous trees. Grows to large sizes.Since some members of the Plutei genus contain toxic and hallucinogenic substances, they should be treated with great caution.
