Appearance and description of false boletus mushrooms (+17 photos)

Mushrooms

During the fall season, the variety of mushrooms can be confusing for inexperienced mushroom pickers, so it's important to carefully monitor what ends up in your basket. In areas where moss grows abundantly, you can often find members of the Boletaceae family, or boletus mushrooms. However, it's important to remember that not all fruits of this species are edible, so it's important to understand the subtleties of color and reaction to cutting to recognize false boletus mushrooms.

Characteristic features and types of false boletus

Thanks to its long fruiting season (from June to November) and variety of varieties, the boletus is often sought after by mushroom pickers. Related to the birch boletus, it is prized for its distinctive flavor and easy digestibility. It grows in mixed coniferous forests, literally forming a symbiotic relationship with the trees.

The red, Polish, and variegated boletes have the most vibrant flavor. Therefore, it's worth knowing that there are some varieties of this species that are considered conditionally edible. These include the chestnut, pepper, gall, and parasitic boletes. The distinctive features of a “bad” mushroom can be its growing location, its size, and most importantly, its taste.

Pepper

The harvest season for this variety is from mid-summer to mid-autumn. This pepper mushroom is characterized by producing only 2-3 mushrooms per mycelium. Its flavor is directly related to its name: hot and spicy.

The cap diameter varies from 2 to 8 cm. In the early stages, the shape is convex-rounded, but it evens out as it matures. It has a soft outer layer that can sparkle in the sun. The cap is light brown, sometimes with various shades of red. The flesh is loose and brittle. The color is yellow with a reddish tint, which intensifies when cut.

The pepper mushroom's stem is quite thin, reaching 2 cm in thickness and up to 8 cm in height. It is cylindrical and has a smooth surface, the same color as the cap itself or a shade lighter. The tubular layer, with pores of varying sizes, adheres quite tightly to the body of the stem. The porous layer is brown, sometimes with a reddish tint. If squeezed, a distinct brown tint appears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yFLIqyP_p8

Chestnut

The harvest period is from July to November. It grows in small groups, sometimes found singly. This species grows alongside trees such as beech, oak, and chestnut. This species is often confused with the Polish chestnut mushroom. When cooked, it acquires a strong bitterness, but loses it completely when dried. The chestnut mushroom has a faint aroma.

The cap is 5-8 cm in diameter. Its shape is slightly convex, less commonly flat. The color is usually chestnut, but can also be brown, tan, or tinged with red. The cap is dry to the touch; in dry periods, it may crack due to lack of moisture. The flesh is white, fairly firm in the early stages of ripening, becoming firmer with age. It does not darken when cut, but brown spots appear when pressed.

Parasitic flywheel

It grows in the summer and fall. As its name suggests, this species grows on the bodies of other mushrooms. It thrives in dry areas, on sandy soils. Visually, it resembles the green boletus. It has an unpleasant taste, but is virtually odorless.

The cap is convex, 2-7 cm in diameter, with inward-curving margins. The color ranges from lemon yellow to rusty brown. The surface is velvety and slightly oily to the touch. The flesh is light yellow, firm, and retains its color when broken.

The parasitic mushroom has a very thin stem—maximum 1.5 cm. Its height usually does not exceed 6 cm. Its shape is cylindrical, with a fibrous, solid structure. Its color ranges from olive to yellow. The pores of the tubular layer are the same color as the cap, wide, and with ribbed edges.

Gallbladder

It bears fruit from June to October in deciduous and coniferous forests. It grows both singly and in groups. It has a characteristic bitter taste that causes a burning sensation.

The cap can be 4-15 cm in diameter, ranging in color from yellow-brown to light brown, often light in color. The shape is hemispherical in young specimens and more rounded and spreading in mature specimens. The flesh is white in the early stages of ripening, acquiring a pinkish tint with age. The texture is fibrous, either odorless or with characteristic mushroom notes.

How to distinguish them from edible mushrooms?

It's difficult to determine exactly what type of boletus you have in front of you, as there are around 18 species that differ in size and appearance.

First of all, you need to pay attention to the growing environment—it should be a variety of moss species, as the name suggests. Also, if you press the tubular surface of a real moss mushroom, a bluish mark should remain.

In theory, there are no false, or poisonous, boletus mushrooms, but in reality, these species are avoided due to their rather poor taste. Unfortunately, the lack of toxic lookalikes dulls the vigilance of mushroom pickers, and they often fail to check for all the signs of false boletus, which can also be confused with birch boletus or butter mushrooms.

Externally, they can be distinguished by their coloring: they have a white, dirty pinkish, or light brown tubular layer that is not typical for the boletus.

Conditionally edible mushrooms may look better than others because they are rarely attacked by insects due to their unpleasant taste.

Note!

In practice, it has been proven that not all signs of false mushrooms may appear simultaneously or at once - the bitterness may not be strong, and redness does not always appear immediately.

Answers to frequently asked questions

Even experienced mushroom pickers still have questions about the difference between false and edible boletus mushrooms:

What to do if you ate a false boletus?

Essentially, these species are considered conditionally edible in the Boletaceae family due to their distinctive flavor characteristics and contain no toxic substances, so they are impossible to poison. If you've collected such a boletus mushroom, there's no particular cause for concern. The only harm they can cause is to spoil the flavor of other mushrooms with bitterness or an unpleasant aftertaste.

Is it possible to distinguish mushrooms by taste?

The pepper mushroom has a distinctive, pungent flavor, but prolonged cooking removes the bitterness. The chestnut mushroom is very bitter, but this can be removed by drying. The parasitic boletus is edible but has a very specific, unpleasant aftertaste. The gall mushroom is very bitter, and this is intensified at elevated temperatures, but experts say soaking it can remove this.

The Boletaceae family discussed here, although conditionally edible, can still be processed in various ways, which can transform them into a worthy dish. Carefully study the characteristics of all members to ensure you enjoy picking and eating mushrooms.