Nature can work both miracles and terrifying things, because there are beautiful flowers and plants, and there are those that make it creepy. One of them is a mushroom called the fingers of the devil. Now the main question is whether this mushroom is edible, how to recognize it, and why nature has endowed it with such an appearance.
Description of the fungus and its features
As soon as the first pictures of this mushroom appeared on social networks, people did not believe that such a mushroom actually existed. Some said it was a montage, others argued that it was shots from a horror movie. Only experts knew that such a plant exists in nature, since they themselves studied it.
This demonic species of fungus was first mentioned in 1860 when describing the flora of Tasmania. After which it began to spread throughout the world and today it has already been seen in many countries.
The only mushroom that can change its appearance. A young mushroom looks like a five-centimeter diameter egg. At this time, it can be confused with a creature from another planet or with a grebe. Multilayer mushroom:
- The upper layer is the peridium, under which there is a mucous egg that protects the fetus from external stimuli.
- Jelly-like mucous membrane.
- The core, which will soon become red tentacles (layer of spores).
When the mushroom begins to bloom, and this happens from the end of summer (August) to mid-autumn. The shell of the devil’s finger bursts and 8 petals come out, the tops of which are connected. The length of each petal is 10 centimeters. After that, the petals separate and straighten, at this time the mushroom is very similar to the tentacles of an octopus. The peridium is white or slightly gray with a brown or pink hue. The pulp of the "tentacles" is soft and breaks easily.
From the inside, the mushroom resembles a porous sponge, the petals of this fungus are rather brittle, on top of them there are spots of different sizes, dark colors and spores, from which it feels stinky. As a result, the mushroom blooms completely and will become like a big star, whose diameter is 15 centimeters. In principle, the mushroom has no legs. The smell that comes from the devil's finger attracts flies, which in turn carry the spores of the fungus. This is certainly not the right way to spread, especially not characteristic of the fungus, but is effective. After the flower is fully opened, he lives only 3-5 days, but this is enough to continue the genus.
When the flower fades, it falls and resembles a pale hand of a dead man crawling out from under the ground, hence the name "devil's fingers".
This video tells how the mushroom egg of the devil’s fingers develops, what people thought about it when they first saw it on the Internet in the UK:
Mushroom prevalence
Fingers of the devil come from Australia and New Zealand, a little later he appeared in Asia, Africa, America, on the island of St. Helena and Mauritius. In European countries, this fungus is treated like an alien, but no one knows how this fungus appeared. It is believed that when in 1915 the textile industry was imported into France, the mushroom was put in wool. And it is possible that soldiers from Australia, participants in the hostilities in the First World War in France, brought his disputes. Even if this happened by accident, the fungus still undergoes acclimatization in all parts of the world where it was spotted.
The fungus is well undergoing acclimatization, it does not matter in which climate and on what soil it grows. A little later, information came that the devil's fingers appeared in Germany, Australia, the Czech Republic and England. Such an option is not excluded that it was brought in with seedlings and soil, but in some southern and central regions it was well established.
In the USSR, this mushroom appeared in 1953, in Ukraine in 1977, and in Russia in 1978.
The mushroom of the devil's fingers is listed in the Red Book and is considered the most creepy plant in the world because of its disgusting appearance during flowering.
Spread in Europe
In Germany, Archer mushroom is often found, however, it is still listed in the Red Book. In the Czech Republic, not far from a city called Hranice in a small reserve on wood that rots, a mushroom of the devil's fingers was seen. As for the UK, so there an amazing mushroom is a great find.
The first mycologist Michael Joseph discovered and described this mushroom for the first time in 1860, he himself is from the UK. A century later, Briton Donald Malcolm in 1980 attributed this mushroom to the genus Clathrus, after which he received the name Anthurus Archer.
Where do the devil's fingers grow?
The habitats of this “interesting” fungus are:
- deciduous forest;
- mixed (beech, pine, maple, elm, oak);
- in the area of humus soil and rotting wood.
It can also be found in the semi-desert or in the desert, in meadows and parks. They grow in large groups, because the climate allows them to.
Mushroom edibility
Despite its terrible and nasty appearance, it is still edible, but those who have tried it say that the taste and smell are as disgusting as the appearance.
It can be eaten only if a person is in such a situation that there is nothing but this mushroom. But if life allows you to eat normal food, then the devil's fingers do not even need to try.
In general, this mushroom is very rarely seen. When it blooms, it scares people with its appearance and smell, like dog feces. Those who tried to taste the fingers of the devil had to tune in for a long time, because they scared the appearance and smell of the missing meat. In addition, on the tentacles there is horribly nasty mucus sticking to the hands.
But still, there were such people, thrill-seekers who managed to cook a dish from an unblown egg. According to their story, it has a cloying taste, but an interesting sensation from this remains for a long time.
Mushroom picking
The first photos on the Internet of this miracle caused a lot of comments, at first people did not believe that this was reality, but later they believed. Distinguishing it from other mushrooms is very easy, because its appearance is not like any other plant. True, the young mushroom is somewhat similar to the funky, but the fungus has a green flesh on the cut, which can not be said about the devil's fingers.
Although it is a unique mushroom, there are still several similar mushrooms:
- Javanese flower shaver lives on the territory of Russia, but unlike the devil’s finger, its tip never disunites and does not open like a star.
- Red grate just like the fingers of the devil, he hatches from a certain egg covered with a mucous membrane. The mushroom grows very quickly in size, becomes round and trellised.
- Veselka. The main difference from the devil's fingers is the presence of a leg, which reaches 15 centimeters in height. The mushroom itself grows rapidly, half a centimeter in one minute. The smell is also unpleasant, but the fungus is widely used in folk medicine.
The mushroom, which is called the fingers of the devil is very unique and at the same time awesome. Many people do not know that such a mushroom has already spread to many countries of the world. In general, they do not eat it, but it is not poisonous. Those who tried this mushroom said that it is not tasty and has a specific unpleasant odor.
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