macros #334 - Porcini (Ceps) - 11 photo

The Russian name of this mushroom - "White mushroom" - follows from the property of the body of the mushroom not to change its color on the cut. Among the remarkable properties of this mushroom are its abundance, meatiness, the luxurious smell it gives to dishes, and the ability to be kept dry. There are different forms of the fungus that grow in symbiosis with different trees ... they are distinguished by a solid variety of shapes and colors. Ok -- now enjoy the pictures!

Porcini mushroom prefers to grow together with such trees as: birch, pine, spruce, oak, fir. (Accordingly, the mushrooms growing there are slightly different in their appearance - they are labelled as the birch, pine and spruce varieties of the porcini mushroom).

The mushrooms in the photo above popped up under an oak tree. And this mushroom, from the same family, squeezed between the numerous stems of the chokeberry, which grows 5 steps from this oak. (The dry oak leaves that cover the earth are evidence of this).

The age of the forest is also of great importance. The older the forest, the more likely Porcini will want to grow here. What's the focus? It's simple, no mysticism - the formation and development of mycelium in the genus Boletus takes a dozen years or more, which is why mushrooms appear under trees 20-50 years old and older. By the way, this oak, which "lured" Porcini mushrooms to our summer place, is only about 15 years old. Now we have three oak trees growing at this place ... and one of them is still very young and thin, but two others are already quite matured decent trees - and Porcini mushrooms appear every year under both of them. A nice bonus!

This is the "harvest" harvested last summer under one of the oak trees ... or rather, part of it, I think about 1/3 part.

As for the soil, porcini mushrooms, like pines, prefer well-drained soils, and do not like excess moisture, therefore, they cannot be found in lowlands, peatlands and swampy areas. And the forests surrounding my summer house are just like that - mossy marsh lowlands, and always wet clay soil. This is how you understand how the world around us works.

There are many types of brown-headed mushrooms, but of course not all of them are Porcini. To unmistakably confirm that the representative of the Boleto family you have found belongs to this particular species, a key sign will help - the mesh texture of the leg. Despite all the variety of shapes, the configuration of the leg and the color of the caps, the mesh is always present and only in this species.

The cap of a mature Porcini mushroom in a cut.

Clickable! And this specimen of Porcini mushroom grew under a very old spruce. Yes, we have a lot of things growing in the area adjacent to the summer house, including five trees. Specifically, this spruce sometimes delivers porcini mushrooms and aspen mushrooms to our table - but in very small quantities and irregularly. I don't know if we can say that, based on our personal statistics, to draw conclusions about the preferences of this type ... probably not. But nevertheless, there are facts.

This specimen grew literally before my eyes ... The nearby thick spruce trunk interfered with the normal formation of the mushroom body, so the mushroom grew "flattened", with such a "fashionable" famously twisted - twisted cap. Handsome and fashionable!