Characteristics of tubular mushrooms
All types of mushrooms are conventionally divided into groups based on external signs of the structure. Especially popular are tubular mushrooms, whose representatives are distinguished by an attractive appearance, a strong pleasant aroma and high taste.
Characteristics of tubular mushrooms
Features of spongy mushrooms
These organisms belong to the group of higher basidiomycetes, endowed with a special structure of the fungal body. Tubular or spongy mushrooms are so named because of the structural features of the hymenophore, which looks like a sponge. It consists of small cells with holes in which spores mature. This structure gives the lower part of the cap of the fruiting body softness and springiness.
Spongy species include representatives that grow on the ground in symbiosis with plant roots. Tinder fungi are parasitic forms that have chosen living trees as a substrate. The appearance of the latter is slightly different from the standard in the absence of a visible stem, a larger cap and a hymenophore that is difficult to separate from its lower surface.
Distinctive features
The tubular mushroom has many distinctive features:
- strong, fleshy structure of the fruit stem and cap element, their structure suggests a large size;
- attractive to parasites and pests;
- the spongy surface of the spore-bearing part is capable of changing color with age or with pressure;
- the ability to accumulate large amounts of water;
- strong mushroom aroma and bright pulp taste;
- the number of edible species prevails.
Lamellar fungi differ from tubular fungi in the hymenophore, which is presented in the form of separate radial plates. The difference between them is also manifested in the description of the pulp: the spongy ones are denser and the plastic ones are prone to crumbling. Differences are also observed in the shape of a cap, where a convex hemisphere is more common for tubulars, and a horizontal flat upper part for lamellar ones. The similarity is observed in the color range of edible fruit bodies.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
The hymenophore of the tubular type of structure is characteristic of pains and tinder fungi. It is represented by a mass of tubes opening downwards, etc. sending ripe spores of the fungus "to life". Almost always, the tubules grow together, resulting in a solid mass, but in the liverwort, the tubules are easy to separate from each other, they are free, because do not grow together with side walls. The important systematic features are the size and shape of the pores. They can be regular, round or angular. The color of the pores may differ from the color of the tubule layer, which will be especially noticeable in the section of the hymenophore.
A less popular group of marsupials grows above ground and underground. The spores mature inside the mushroom body, which looks like a ball or oval. Therefore, tubular saprotrophs, as well as lamellar ones, belonging to the same basidial group, are strikingly different from marsupials.
Edible species
The most common are tubular edible mushrooms, which grow ubiquitously in regions with temperate climates and warm rains. Sandy soils, forest soils with the necessary amount of nutrients, illuminated by diffused sunlight are more suitable for their growth. They grow in mixed and coniferous forests, preferring pine, birch, aspen, oak, spruce, etc.
The spongy surface of the cap accumulates water
The following table displays a list of the appearance features that characterize edible tubular mushrooms.
| Mushroom name | Dimensions (edit) | Hat | Leg | Pulp |
| Porcini | Height - up to 25 cm, head width - up to 20 cm, leg width - up to 7-10 cm | Depending on the species and age, it acquires shades from white to dark brown, often cracks, velvety to the touch | Light color, strong, extended towards the bottom | Dense, has a white color, does not change on cut |
| Borovik | Height - 20 cm, head width - up to 15 cm, leg width - 8 cm | Velvety skin, greyish-yellow or yellow-brown in color | Yellowish tint, pink or reddish at the base, characterized by a granular structure | Dense, may take on a light olive tint when cut. The hymenophore has a yellowish tint. |
| Bolette | Height - up to 10 cm, head width - 4-9 cm, leg width - up to 6 cm | Curved at the edges, covered with small scales, can be brown, reddish or yellowish | Yellowish at the top, turns into brown or brown at the bottom, young individuals have a thin film ring | Yellowish tint, brown stem. Hymenophore - olive brown |
| Oiler | Height - up to 10 cm, head width - 6-12 cm, leg width - up to 3 cm | Covered with a thin layer of sticky mucus, which is especially noticeable in high humidity, chestnut or light brown color | Yellowish in the upper part and with an admixture of brownish-brown color near the ground, has a belt of film | Light yellow color, soft, does not change shade when cut |
| Mosswheel | Height - up to 15 cm, head width - 6-12 cm, leg width - 4-8 cm | Spherical shape, sometimes swollen at the bottom in some varieties, from yellowish brown to greenish to reddish | Shades of brown and yellowish red, widened at the bottom | White, sometimes yellowish, can turn blue when cut and pressed |
| Boletus | Height - up to 15 cm, head width - up to 11 cm, leg width - up to 3-4 cm | Cushion-shaped or strongly curved spherical shape, dull light brown color | Gray or brown with dark scales closer to the ground | Light shade, does not change color when cut. The spore-bearing layer is white in young specimens, and grayish-brown in older specimens. |
| Boletus or Redhead | Height - up to 20 cm, head width - 7-25 cm, leg width - 6-8 cm | Spherical or almost fully open, red or red-orange color | Solid, cylindrical, widened at the bottom, light or grayish with multiple black scales | White, quickly turns bluish-black when cut or damaged |
| Polish mushroom | Height - up to 12 cm, head width - 7-15 cm, leg width - up to 3-5 cm | The color is chestnut, in wet weather it becomes darker, a slight stickiness appears | Strong, cylindrical, light brown with chestnut longitudinal stripes. When pressed, it first turns blue, then turns brown. | Light yellow, turns bluish when cut, then turns white again. The pores quickly turn blue-green when pressed. |
| Goat | Height - up to 10 cm, head width - 4-12 cm, leg width - up to 3 cm | Thin, covered with mucus in the rain, in dry weather reddish brown with a light edge | Smooth, sometimes curved, light brown in color | Olive yellow or yellowish, with large pores on the outside of the hymenophore. |
Inedible species
Tubular or spongy types of edible mushrooms are contrasted with poisonous tubular mushrooms.Their peculiarity lies in the unpleasant odor or bitter taste. The insignificant amount of toxins also does not cause the desire to eat this "forest meat" in food. In general, tubular mushrooms are poisonous in places where a lot of harmful substances from the environment enter, which even spoils the edible fruiting body.
Poisonous tubular mushrooms include the following:
- Boletus wolf: in size does not differ from ordinary boletus. Its cap is semicircular, at a more mature age it is flat with drooping uneven edges, whitish-brown in the center, which turns into pink and reddish at the edge. The thick yellowish-pink stem has a seal in the middle. The pulp is yellowish, turns blue when cut.
- Gall mushroom: looks like a boletus. The cap is light brown or brown, the leg is yellowish brown. A distinctive feature is the pinkish tint of the spongy part (hymenophore), which signals inedibility. The pulp turns pink at the cut.
- Pepper Mushroom: often called a pepper oil can, he wears a standard-shaped hat with a dry velvety surface. Its color varies from orange-red to rusty-copper shade. The leg is the same color as the upper part, tapering towards the ground. A cut of the flesh of a tubular mushroom is decorated with red dragging.
- Satanic Mushroom: an example of the single most poisonous mushroom. These inedible tubular mushrooms have a dense pulp structure, a large, thick, semicircular cap of a whitish or light brown hue. The yellow leg with a large compaction at the ground is covered with a reddish mesh. The pulp is white, with an unpleasant odor, and turns blue after cutting. The hymenophore has a bright red or pink tint.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
It is believed that satanic pain can become edible only after prolonged soaking with regular water changes and prolonged cooking (more than 10 hours). But cooking with this mushroom in the composition is allowed only to professional chefs. However, even this cannot become a 100% guarantee of safety when eating it. So here you can even draw a parallel between cooking and eating satanic boletus in parts of Western Europe and puffer fish (dogs) in Japan.
An important feature that makes it possible to distinguish edible representatives of spongy species from inedible ones is their reaction to damage to spore-bearing tissue. The reaction is faster in the mushrooms that are allowed for consumption. Slow color change is inherent in inedible twins.
Conclusion
Tubular fungi are organisms known for exceptional qualities that are essential in nature. Almost all tubular mushrooms are edible, the number of inedible tubular mushrooms is not so great. The main thing for every mushroom picker is the ability to correctly identify and distinguish edible tubular from inedible species.
