On the territory of the Volgograd region there are many places where lovers of walks in the woods in search of a wide variety of mushrooms will find a lot of interesting things for themselves. Over 400 hectares of natural open spaces are rich in mushrooms, butter, russula and other noble mushrooms. But it is important to be able to distinguish them from each other and not to collect poisonous specimens.
Edible mushrooms
In the Volgograd region, many tasty and healthy mushrooms grow, which every mushroom picker will be happy to meet. It is worth considering in more detail their diversity and habitats.
Morels
Description. These are quite famous mushrooms in which not every mushroom picker is able to recognize edible ones. This is because morels are unattractive in appearance, and their shape is quite special for the mushroom kingdom: the egg-shaped hat is located on a short cone-shaped leg. In size, the hat and the leg can be different, it is difficult to separate one from the other.
Where and when does it grow? Morels grow in forests, gardens, parks. Especially these mushrooms love places where there was a fire several years ago. In the spring, morels are easy to find in wet weather in many deciduous and coniferous forests, on clay and calcareous earth.
Varieties. There are many types of morels; among the edible ones, it is worth noting the tall, conical, real, half-free, steppe, thick-legged morels and morel hat.
Doubles. Morels are visually similar to lines that are poisonous.
Russula
Description. In young russula, the hat has a spherical shape. During the growth of the fungus, the hat straightens, becomes flatter, sometimes convex. In size, it does not exceed 10 cm, the color palette is large. The leg of the mushroom is the same length, often white in color, but also found as colorful as hats. The mushroom has a mild odor.
Where and when does it grow? Russula is harvested in summer and autumn in mixed forests.
Varieties. Among these mushrooms are widespread: Russula amethyst, Barla, Blackford, related, pleasant, durable, whole, marsh, geranium-colored and Russula Velenovsky.
Doubles. Among russula there are not only edible, but also inedible or poisonous mushrooms, for example, russula caustic or birch. They are quite difficult to distinguish from edible mushrooms, only experienced mushroom pickers can do it.
Russula is greenish
White bend
Description. White mushroom is one of the most popular edible mushrooms. The caps of ceps are large in size - they can reach several tens of centimeters in diameter. The color of the hat is light and dark brown, sometimes yellow or reddish. The leg of the cep is also large, does not exceed 10 cm in width. In relation to the cap, the leg is smaller, but to the base it can expand and reach the size of the cap. The pulp of the porcini mushroom has a color corresponding to the name, less often a pink tint is observed.
Where and when does it grow? In the Volgograd region, porcini mushroom is often found in Kumylzhensky, Gorodishchensky, Alekseevsky areas. Its favorite places are pine, oak and birch forests with shelters from lichen and moss on the ground. They begin to collect it in June.
Varieties. The most common among ceps are considered spruce, pine, oak, birch, net and hornbeam.
Doubles. Ceps are confused with bile and satanic mushrooms, which are inedible.
Ginger
Description. Red color, ranging from light yellow-pink to deep orange-red. The diameter of the cap of adult mushrooms reaches 15 cm, its edges are slightly turned down, and there is a recess in the center. The leg is hollow, not more than 10 cm in length, has a cylindrical shape. The flesh of a camelina is as bright as the mushroom itself, it turns green when it is in the air for a long time. The smell of camelina is rather weak.
Where and when does it grow? The first saffron mushrooms ripen in mid-July, their growth continues until frost. You need to look in the coniferous forests on the north side of the trees.
Varieties. Among the main types of camelina, camelina is pine, spruce, red and milky red.
Doubles. False saffron mushrooms include a pink throat, a fragrant lactarius and a papillary lactum.
Gruzdy
Description. Mushrooms have a distinctive appearance from many mushrooms - they have a large massive hat of white color on a short leg. At the edges of the fungus there is a fringe in the form of a fringe. As the edges grow, the breasts begin to wrap inward, and the mushroom itself turns yellow. Therefore, yellowed mushrooms, the color of which is closer to rusty, should not be collected.
Where and when does it grow? You can meet the mushrooms in birch, oak and aspen forests from July to September. In the Volgograd region, they are often found in the area of the village of Trekhostrovskaya, Lebyazhya Polyana and Kalach-on-Don.
Varieties. There are many types of mushrooms in the area, among which the real, aspen, yellow, oak, black, dry ones are especially distinguished.
Doubles. False breasts and doubles of breastmilk include such as peppermint, camphor, felt and golden yellow.
Real chest
Valui
Description. A ball-shaped hat of spherical shape at the beginning of growth transforms over time into a flat hat, along the edge of which hollows are clearly visible, and in the center there is a small notch. The hat rarely exceeds a dozen centimeters, its surface is covered with mucus and glistens, the color is yellow or yellow-brown.
The valuy leg has a white color and the shape of a barrel or cylinder. Its thickness is about 3 cm, its length is about 10 cm. The pulp of the fungus is also white in color, it becomes brown under the influence of air. Her smell is like spoiled oil.
Where and when does it grow? Values grow in birch, deciduous and coniferous forests.
Varieties. Valuy is the only representative of its kind. These mushrooms are collected from mid-summer to September.
Doubles. Similar to valui are: russula, buffy, almond and morse, which can be distinguished by a specific smell and color. There is also a poisonous double - a false valui, which, when cut, has a strong odor similar to horseradish.
Boletus
Description. Boletus is characterized by a wide stocky leg, on which a bright hat is located. At the beginning of growth, the hat fits tightly on the top of the legs and has a spherical shape, subsequently it straightens, becoming more flattened over time. The color of the hat varies from light brown to bright brick.
Where and when does it grow? Boletus is collected from the beginning of summer to autumn. In the birch and aspen forests of the Kletsky district, they are most often found. Mushrooms can be found under various trees: spruce, beech, poplar, birch, willow and aspen.
Varieties. The most common representatives: red boletus, black-scaled, oak, yellow-brown, spruce.
Doubles. The double boletus can be called pepper mushroom (or mustard). The difference between the latter and the boletus is the absence of a mesh pattern on the leg and a pinkish shade of the tubular layer.
Boletus
Description. The birch bark has a small hat (on average 8 cm in diameter) of gray-brown or brown color, which is located on a thin but long (about 10 cm) leg of white-gray color. Dark brown plates cover the surface of the legs. The pulp of the mushroom is solid, white, in the air it turns green, pink or black, depending on the type of boletus.
Where and when does it grow? Birch forests grow mostly in birch forests. You need to collect these mushrooms in the summer-autumn season.
Varieties. There are many types of brown boletus, of which the most common in Russia are the common and gray brown boletus.
Doubles. The bile mushroom is very similar to the boletus. The latter can be distinguished from the edible in the greenish tint of the hat and its lower pink part.
Umbrellas
Description. Edible mushrooms of this species include: the fungus is an umbrella that is white, blushing and mottled. In shape, they are all similar, only slightly different in size. The hats of such mushrooms at the beginning of their growth have a spherical shape, but over time they open, becoming like an umbrella. The color of the hat depends on the type - it can vary from light cream to dark brown. As the mushroom grows, peeling plates are noticeable on the hat. The leg is hollow, white-gray, has the shape of a cylinder.
Where and when does it grow? Umbrella mushrooms are harvested from mid-June to October. You can meet them in various free areas of forests - pastures, clearings, meadows, edges, and so on.
Varieties. There are several edible varieties of this fungus, among which it is worth highlighting the field umbrella, elegant, conrad, mastoid, motley, blushing, girlish.
Doubles. Inedible or poisonous representatives of this genus include a comb-like, chestnut, and pointed-to-neck umbrella. Extremely poisonous panther fly agaric and white toadstool also look like an umbrella mushroom.
Oyster mushrooms
Description. Ordinary oyster mushroom of large sizes - the diameter of the cap is several tens of centimeters (10-30). The edges of the cap are turned up at the beginning of growth, as they grow, they turn around and become wavy, so the shape of the upper part of the mushroom from convex turns into a flatter one. The color of oyster mushrooms is gray with various shades, the old mushrooms look whitish, the saturation of their color is lost over time. The leg is short, dense, in the form of a cylinder, white.
Where and when does it grow? The favorite habitats of these mushrooms are trees and stumps. Oyster mushrooms grow on dead woods or strongly weakened birches, aspen, willows, oaks and mountain ash. They begin to collect the mushroom in the fall, sometimes it can be found until December.
Varieties. In the genus of oyster mushroom, there are three dozen species, among which there are edible and inedible. The most common edible mushrooms from them are considered to be ordinary, carob, oak, steppe, pulmonary, pink and golden oyster mushrooms.
Doubles. False oyster mushrooms differ from edible oysters in their brighter colors. In Russia, of such false mushrooms there is oyster mushroom orange and wolfwort.
Pipers
Description. For the most part, polypants look like large growths on the cortex, can be of various colors, with a massive hat and a small sturdy leg, which is located on the side and visually invisible.
Where and when does it grow? All polypore live on ordinary or rotting trees, sometimes found on dry fallen wood, branches, stumps, less often on the ground. You can meet their varieties from early May to late autumn.
Varieties. Mushroom tinder fungus has a lot of varieties. Edible representatives include sulfur-yellow, scaly polypore and liver fungus. There are also other panties: humpbacked, odorous, radiant, birch, chestnut, stiff-haired, reishi and so on.
Doubles. The inedible representatives of this family, such as the tinder fungus, lacquered and varicolored, can be attributed to the counterparts of tinder agents.
Tinder fungus
Flywheel
Description. This edible mushroom has a brown hemispherical hat, the size does not exceed 10 cm. Over time, cracks appear on the hat. The flesh of the mushroom is yellowish-red in color; a shade of blue appears on its slice. The foot of the moss fly is of a standard type, cylindrical in shape, with growth, its base or top may increase depending on the variety of the fungus.
Where and when does it grow? In the Volgograd region, a lot of mosses are found in pine forests near the village of Kletskaya. The name of the mushrooms is due to their favorite place of growth - moss. The most suitable time for picking mushrooms is considered to be from the beginning of July to the end of August.
Varieties. Mossovics include a little less than two dozen species, of which about 7 are found in the Volgograd region.
Doubles. Flywheels, like butterfish, are often confused with pepper mushroom, which is inedible. You can also call such doubles as a parasitic moss fly, chestnut and bile fungi.
Wake
Description. The cap of the trap is about 8 cm in diameter. In young mushrooms, it is convex, in adults, it is flat, with the edges turned down and a recess in the center. It has a fleecy surface, the color varies from light pink to bright, saturated brick pink, the color is darker towards the center. In the absence of moisture, the mushroom begins to turn white. The cap has a thin, strong, short pink leg.
Where and when does it grow? Cracks in the forests with birches grow. These mushrooms are collected from June to October.
Varieties. The most famous of the waves are pink and white, gray, yellow and swamp waves are also found.
Doubles. Lookaheads look like doubles of waveworms. The hat of the latter is also pinkish in color, it happens with reddish rings, but without edges on the edges.
Pink pink
Champignon
Description. Champignons have a characteristic white-gray rounded hat, sometimes yellow spots may be present on it. The leg is firm and even. The mushroom has average, when compared with its counterparts, sizes.
Where and when does it grow? Mushrooms are preferred in spruce forests, meadows, pastures, fields. It is customary to collect them at the end of June.
Varieties. Today, about two hundred species of champignons stand out, the vast majority of which are edible mushrooms.
Doubles. A dangerous common champignon double is false champignon, which can be distinguished from edible by its unpleasant odor. Sometimes champignons in the colors of hats resemble fly agaric, but on the former there are no Volvos and other color of the plates: from pink to black-brown.
Polish mushroom
Description. The cap of the Polish mushroom is about 10 cm in diameter, has a rounded shape. At the beginning of growth, its edges are turned inward, as the fungus grows, the edges unfold and can bend outward, the hat takes a more flat shape. The color of the hats are light and dark shades of brown. The mushroom leg is impressive - it reaches about 10 cm in height and 4 cm in diameter.
This name was given to the mushroom due to the fact that earlier it was mainly supplied to Europe from Poland, where it was a popular product.
Where and when does it grow? Polish mushroom can be found in coniferous forests, less often - in deciduous, with a predominance of sandy soil. You can collect such mushrooms for a long time - from June to November.
Varieties. In various classifications, the Polish mushroom belongs to boletus, mosswicks or stands out as a separate species.
Doubles. The Polish mushroom has such doubles as the mottled moss and green moss, differing from it in their color and cracked hat.
Butterflies
Description. A distinctive feature of oil is a sticky, easily removable peel of a hat, which led to their name. Mushrooms are small in size, the diameter of their hats rarely exceeds 10 cm. The color palette of the mushroom depends on its type and illumination of the place of growth. The foot of the butter is also small, white or similar in color to a hat.
Where and when does it grow? Mushroom pickers collect a large amount of oil in pine forests. The peak of mushroom picking occurs in June and July.
Varieties. The oil has many species, among which it grows in the area: the oil can is white, grainy, yellow-brown, ordinary, red-red.
Doubles. Oil mushrooms, like many moss mushrooms, are often confused with pepper mushroom, which is inedible.
Chanterelles
Description. Chanterelles are common mushrooms. Their size is small - the cap rarely exceeds a dozen centimeters in diameter.The color palette of the hat extends from light yellow to bright orange. Its edges are usually wavy or irregular in shape; in adult mushrooms, the hat often takes the form of a funnel. The mushroom leg is short, fused with a hat, of the same color or slightly lighter.
Where and when does it grow? Chanterelles often fall in love with deciduous, pine and spruce forests. You can start collecting early - chanterelles appear in May and grow a couple of months.
Varieties. These include: ordinary chanterelle, gray, cinnabar-red, faceted, yellowing, tubular.
Doubles. Real chanterelles are easily confused with false ones, but the latter can be recognized by the white juice secreted by the breakdown of the fungus.
Dummies
Description. The cap of the dung beetle is white, has a bell-convex shape and thin flesh. On the hat there are characteristic flakes that blacken as the mushroom ripens. The leg has the shape of a cylinder; it is long compared to the legs of many other mushrooms. The dung beetles grow rapidly, and after the maturation of the spores, they self-dissolve, as a result of the fungus there remains only a small dark spot.
Where and when does it grow? Dung beetles grow wherever the soil is rich in humus or manure. Often they can be observed in gardens, parks, on garbage heaps. The optimal time for their collection is May.
Varieties. Common edible mushrooms of this species are white, gray and common dung beetles.
Doubles. Mushrooms are similar to each other, and it is difficult for them to find doubles among other families.
Ryadovki
Description. Row caps about 10 cm in diameter; color depends on species. Their edges are fibrous, sometimes there are scales. At the beginning of the growth of the cap, cracks appear on it. The leg is dense, central, of medium length.
Where and when does it grow? Ryadovka poplar spread in Rudnyansky, Kumylzhensky, Olkhovsky, Svetloyarsky areas. The peak of its growth occurs in August. Zelenushka can be found in September in the pine forests of Kalachevsky district.
Varieties. In the Volgograd region, there are mainly two types of edible rows: poplar and golden or lemon, popularly called it greenfinch. The color of the hat, they differ markedly: the first hat is often red-brown, the second - greenish-yellow.
Doubles. Common edible species of rows are many. Sometimes you can stumble upon poisonous species: brown, white, leopard. They can be distinguished by their general appearance and often present pungent odor, but far from always dangerous mushrooms can be seen among most of the similar ones.
Ryadovka poplar
Mushrooms
Description. Caps of honey mushrooms in diameter reach 13 cm, in young mushrooms they have a spherical shape, the edges are bent inward. As it grows, the shape of the cap transforms into a flat-convex, a tubercle appears in its center. The color of the hat is gray-yellow, with a brown tint, darker in the center, with small scales. The leg of honey agarics is long, 1-2 cm in thickness, the color is the same as that of the hat or a little darker. Often the fruiting bodies of the mushrooms grow together with the base of the legs.
Where and when does it grow? Honey mushrooms grow in large groups from late August to late autumn on stumps, roots, fallen and living trunks of deciduous trees, usually birches, less often conifers, mushrooms are also found in thickets of nettles. In the Volgograd region, honey agaric is common in Shakinsky oak grove, the village of Rudnya, Surovikino, Kalache-on-Don, the Ryabovsky and Chernyshkovsky farms.
Varieties. There are several types of edible mushrooms, including summer, autumn, winter, meadow, thick-legged, slimy, spring.
Doubles. Autumn mushroom is confused with some dangerous types of honey mushrooms. You can distinguish edible mushroom by the ring on the leg.
Kozlyak
Description. This mushroom has a convex or slightly flattened hat, with an average diameter of 7 cm, its shape at the beginning of the growth of the fungus is convex, with time it flattenes. With a lack of moisture, the skin on the hat glistens, with an excess of moisture - it is covered with a layer of mucus. The color of the hat varies from yellow to reddish brown. The height of the legs is equal to the diameter of the hat, of the same color.
Where and when does it grow? Goats grow in pine forests most often on acidic, nutritious and moist soils. Found on roads and in peat bogs. The best time to collect mushroom data is from August to September.
Varieties. Kozlyak is the only species; his closest relatives are the oysters.
Doubles. An inedible pepper mushroom is considered to be a mushroom-like mushroom - it has smaller size and the flesh of an acute pepper taste.
Poisonous
In the vast expanses of the Volgograd region, in addition to edible mushrooms, one can often stumble upon poisonous ones, the use of which in food in any form can lead to serious consequences for the human body. Therefore, when collecting mushrooms, unfamiliar representatives of this kingdom are better left unattended. The most common poisonous mushrooms found in the Volgograd region should be considered in more detail.
Fly agaric
Description. Amanita mushrooms are known to many people as extremely poisonous mushrooms. A common species is the fly agaric. The diameter of his hat can reach up to 20 cm. It has a bright red color, on which white spots are scattered. Such mushrooms are visible from afar and it is difficult to confuse them with others. Aged mushrooms may not have white spots. The leg of the red fly agaric is thin and long, has a cylindrical shape, completely white. Often on the leg a noticeably flat or slightly torn ring.
Where and when does it grow? Red fly agaric grows near birches and fir trees on acidic soils. Appears in August, disappears in October.
Varieties. There are many species of fly agaric, some of them are edible. But experimenting with such mushrooms is not worth it; their poisonous species are quite common in our forests. In addition to the poisonous red variety, a grebe-like fly agaric is isolated. His hat is slightly smaller in diameter, the color is not so bright - it can be gray-yellow or off-white. It occurs more often on sandy soils.
Doubles. In the red fly agaric, there are hardly doubles. Champignons can sometimes be confused with grebes or a fly agaric due to their white hats and similar shape.
Satanic mushroom
Description. Belongs to the fleet family. The leg of a satanic mushroom is brighter than a hat. Its color changes from top to bottom from yellowish red to brownish yellow through orange-red. On the surface of the legs there is a mesh pattern. Her shape is unusual: at first it is ovoid or spherical, after which it becomes barrel-shaped. The hat is white, gray or off-white, it may be with an olive, yellow or tan. Shaped like a hemisphere or pillow. In a ripened mushroom, it is outstretched, the skin is smooth or velvet. The mushroom flesh turns blue after a cut.
Where and when does it grow? Mushroom grows in bright forests where there is oak, beech, hornbeam, hazel, linden. Prefers limestone soils. It occurs from June to September.
Varieties. Varieties of the satanic mushroom can be called other fungi of the boletaceae family with blue flesh and colored pores.
Doubles. The satanic mushroom can be confused by external signs with a bile or cep.
False champignon
Description. This mushroom is very similar to ordinary champignon. This poisonous mushroom can be distinguished from the latter by its unpleasant smell. There is also a mushroom-like poisonous fellow, which has a yellowish or red color. False mushrooms are well defined by their pulp, which does not change color when pressed, in contrast to the pulp of edible mushrooms.
Where and when does it grow? False champignons are found mainly in coniferous and mixed forests, but sometimes they can be found in the garden, on the field, in the yard. They grow for several months - from May to November.
Varieties. Of the poisonous species, most often in our forests you can find colorful and yellow-skinned champignons.
Doubles. Ordinary champignons are often confused with grebes.
Common raincoat
Description. The fruit body of the false raincoat has an ovoid, spherical or slightly flattened shape about 5-8 cm in diameter, this mushroom does not have legs. Before full ripening, the puddle can be completely immersed in the ground. By color, mushrooms are often light or grayish in color. On the fruiting body, as the fungus ripens, characteristic cracks are noticeable.
Where and when does it grow? Ordinary raincoats grow in coniferous and deciduous forests. They are found on the edges and along the roads. They settle on loamy and clay soil. These mushrooms bear fruit from August to September. Spotted puddles are found in any forests. The main condition for them is moist soil and good light.
Varieties. In addition to the common false raincoat, a false raincoat is spotted or panther, warty.
Doubles. As you can see from the name of the mushroom itself, it is very similar to a regular raincoat.
Gall mushroom
Description. Bile mushroom is inedible due to its bitter taste, which is enhanced by cooking. The diameter of the mushroom cap rarely exceeds 10 cm, it has a hemispherical shape at the beginning of growth, and later becomes more flattened. In terms of colors, the hat is often yellow-gray, less often brown or darker. The leg is of medium length and thickness, cylindrical or club-shaped, in color resembles a hat.
Where and when does it grow? Distributed bile mushroom in many coniferous and deciduous forests. You can meet one mushroom or a small cluster at the base of the tree, on a rotten stump. It grows from June to October.
Varieties. Sometimes there is a kind of bile fungus, the raw flesh of which has a pleasant taste, but during cooking bitterness still stands out.
Doubles. Gall mushroom at the beginning of growth is similar to porcini mushroom and other mushrooms, sometimes it can be confused with boletus. The difference from the latter will be the absence of scales on the leg, from the mushrooms - the presence of a dark mesh.
Death cap
Description. Pale grebe belongs to the fly agaric family and is considered by many to be the most poisonous mushroom. The average diameter of the hat is 10 cm, initially it has a spherical shape, with time it stretches and opens up to flat. The edges of the hat are smooth, fibrous, its color varies from white to greenish-gray. The leg of the mushroom is long, about 12 cm, and thin, about 2 cm. It has a cylindrical shape and thickens from below, similar in color to a hat.
Where and when does it grow? Often pale grebe is found on fertile land under deciduous trees such as hazel, oak, and beech. This fungus is characteristic of coniferous and deciduous forests. The peak of its growth occurs in late summer and early fall.
Varieties. The pale grebe itself is a kind of fly agaric, so the whole family can be called its variety.
Doubles. For inexperienced mushroom pickers, a pale toadstool can be collected instead of the coveted edible mushrooms, such as champignons, green russula, and floats.
The beginning of the mushroom season
In most of the territory semi-deserts and steppes prevail. The mushroom season in this region begins a little later than in central Russia.
The first mushrooms appear on the expanses of the Volgograd region as early as the beginning of spring, however, August is considered the best time to harvest.
Mushroom edge places
Among the best mushroom picking places in this region, according to many mushroom pickers, it is worth highlighting the following areas:
- Tsimlyansk reservoir area, farm Panshino and Krasnodonsky, in the direction of the Don. Arrays of deciduous and pine forests, humid lowlands of these places are rich in a large number of oils, boletus and rowans.
- Money, Hungry and Sarpinsky Islands. In moisture-rich lands here grow mosses, mushrooms, Polish mushroom and many others.
- Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, the area of Pokrovka, Gromkov, Zubarevka. Here you can often meet breasts and rowers, but umbrellas are extremely rare due to insufficient moisture for them.
- Steppe area near the Volgograd reservoir. In vast steppe territories near pastures and pastures, many meadow champignons are concentrated.
As can be seen from the listed variety, the Volgograd region has special value for mushroom pickers. Here you can find a lot of tasty and healthy mushrooms. But at each collection, you need to carefully monitor that poisonous mushrooms do not get into the basket, otherwise this can ultimately create serious health problems.