Description of the fungus spherical sarcosoma
Among the variety of mushrooms, there are those that are used for medicinal purposes, they can be either familiar in appearance or unusual for our eyes. One of them is a mushroom spherical sarcosoma.
Description of the fungus spherical sarcosoma
Botanical characteristic
Globular sarcosoma is referred to as marsupials (ascomycetes), which have septate mycelium and specific sporulation organs in the form of bags, called asci. The mushroom leg is missing.
The fruit body, or apothecia, initially has the shape of a ball, and over time it gradually takes the form of a bulb. As a single specimen matures, wrinkled folds appear on the surface of the fruiting body, it becomes soft in structure, bag-like in shape, while maintaining the velvety of the outer layer.
The color is dark brown or dark brown. The diameter of the fruiting body is 6-8 cm with a height of 5-10 cm. The surface has a velvety bloom.
The hymenium in representatives of the sarcosoma species is spherical in consistency, jelly-like, slimy, shiny in color, located inside the apothecia. The mushroom has a very faint mushroom smell. Taste qualities are not expressed.
According to the external description, this mushroom looks like a barrel with a lid filled with liquid.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
The hyphae of the pulp are immersed in a gelatinous mass. Apothecia are often almost completely hidden by a layer of moss and only the upper part will be visible from the outside. This mushroom does not have a hat in the usual sense for us, its role was taken over by the fruiting body itself. There are sugars in the fluid that fills the apothecia cavity, which creates pressure that helps to throw out already ripe spores. This happens every 3 minutes. With each release, the amount of liquid decreases, the mushroom is "blown away" and shrivels, becoming like a black plate.
Sarcosoma belongs to inedible mushrooms. It is a saprophyte found in coniferous forests.
Geography of distribution
Arctic-Alpine distribution. Rarely found in areas of Central Europe. Preferred growing places are coniferous forests. Can be found in layers of moss or fallen needles.
Active fruiting in the species is observed in spring, immediately after the melting of the snow cover.
The mushroom grows in the Siberian taiga
Mass appearance is rarely observed - once every 3-4 years. Life expectancy is no more than 2 months.
Grows in small groups of 8-10 pieces. The largest number of accumulations falls on the Siberian taiga. The species is rare and is included under the protection of the Moscow, Kirov, Tyumen, Arkhangelsk regions and is in the list of the Red Book of Tatarstan. Also, spherical sarcosoma is included in the Red Book of Russia.
Practical use
Opinions about the edibility of this species are very ambiguous. Some experts tend to consider it inedible, but despite this, in some Russian regions it is fried or stewed with potatoes. The dish is called "sarkosomnik".
However, the main application is related to the medicinal properties of sarcosomes.The internal content is popularly called "earth oil" - it is a gelatinous jelly-like mass that includes fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, heptodecanoic) and a number of amino acids (including cysteine, lysine, glycine, valine, etc.). A drug with the same name is prepared from it - "Earthen Oil". Thanks to this, the following healing properties can be distinguished:
- biostimulating qualities that have a rejuvenating effect on the body, increases the efficiency of the immune system, gives vitality;
- affects the brain ("earth oil" should be taken in small doses daily);
- external use of alcoholic tinctures from the mushroom allows you to relieve pain symptoms in rheumatism, polyarthritis and other joint diseases;
- improves hair growth (jelly-like liquid from the fruiting body is rubbed into the hair roots), therefore it is an effective remedy against hair loss;
- crushed mushroom walls are used as anti-aging face and body masks.
Recently, medicine has been widely investigating the positive effect on the body of intramuscular injections with mushroom extract in the fight against cancer.
Growing a spherical sarcosoma on a site is a thankless task: firstly, it requires the creation of very specific conditions, because mushrooms prefer to live in coniferous litter and moss; secondly, fruiting is extremely rare - once every 8-10 years. Imagine how many beds you need to lay and how to care for them to harvest each year.
Conclusion
The mushroom spherical sarcosoma is a representative of the ascomycetes. The species is inedible, cannot be used for food purposes, however, some residents of the northern regions cook homemade dishes with it. It has medicinal properties, therefore it is applicable in folk medicine in the treatment of a number of diseases. This is a rare species. The conservation status is close to a vulnerable position, it is included in the Red Data Books of a number of Russian regions and the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation.
