Chanterelle mushroom photo and description which are discussed in this article, has a tasty and fragrant pulp. Mushroom pickers also appreciate the fact that this species is not affected by insects or worms. This is possible thanks to chitinmannose, a substance that infects helminths and their eggs.

Chanterelles are collected by many lovers " silent hunting» also because they grow large groups. If one or two mushrooms are caught on the way, then you should carefully look around, under the moss or fallen leaves, most likely, the rest of the representatives of this colony also hid.

So, let's look at the appearance of this tasty and healthy mushroom, study their habitat and learn how to distinguish representatives different kind chanterelles.

What do chanterelle mushrooms look like

Representatives of this species have one structural feature: the hat and leg are a single whole. There is no classic cap fit on a detachable leg. The color of the cap and legs is approximately the same: from light sunny to rich red or even orange.

The cap of the mushroom is flat, can reach 5-10 cm in diameter. It has curved and wavy edges. You can compare the shape with an umbrella that is turned inside out. The structure of the fungus itself is dense and smooth, it is difficult to separate the skin from the pulp.

The edible part of the mushroom is yellowish, sometimes with a white tint. The taste of the pulp is slightly sour, but some talk about a slight aftertaste of dried fruit. The surface takes on a slight red tint if you press lightly on it.

The stem has the same shade as the hat. Sometimes it can be slightly lighter. Its length is 5-7 cm, and its thickness is up to 2 cm. The structure is smooth and dense, and the shape of the base is uniform, slightly narrowed down.

habitats

You can meet foxes in different places. Like bettas, they can grow in forests, spruce or deciduous forests. Most often, chanterelles are found in small-leaved and coniferous plantations with a sufficient amount of moss. They prefer to grow in the shade, but if the weather is not hot and rainy, then they feel great in open areas.

Like their counterparts of other species, chanterelles like to grow in groups. Moreover, their groups are numerous and massively appear after thunderstorms. Mushrooms must be collected carefully, cutting them off so as not to damage the mycelium.

Important! Mushrooms that have grown not far from the road cannot be used for food. Even if they look quite appetizing, such fruits will do more harm than good, because they tend to accumulate harmful substances and heavy metals.

When to go "hunting" for chanterelles?

The collection of chanterelles begins at the end of May, but most of all they grow in early July and until the end of September. However, it is generally accepted that optimal time The collection of chanterelles is summer: July and August.

Beneficial features

Chanterelles are popular among mushroom lovers. But besides the taste, they are valued for beneficial features. They contain a lot of carotene, which provides a bright color of the mushroom, there are other useful substances.

In chanterelles, more than in other mushrooms, manganese, about 1/5 of daily allowance needed by the body. There is also a high content of vitamins:

  • PP ¼ of the daily norm in a raw product;
  • A - about 15%;
  • beta-carotene - 17%.

Includes the necessary:

  • trace elements: selenium, zinc, copper;
  • macronutrients: phosphorus, sulfur, calcium.

But there are some substances that make this mushroom special:

For those who limit the amount of calories consumed, chanterelles will be a godsend.

100 g of chanterelles contains:

  • 19 kcal;
  • 1.5 g proteins;
  • 1 g of fats and carbohydrates;
  • 7 g of dietary fiber.

These mushrooms are good for digestion and are quite appropriate in the diet of those who are on a diet. As part of 89% of water, therefore, in the process of preparation, they decrease in volume by 3-4 times.

Edible types of chanterelle mushrooms

Mushrooms unusual taste which makes them very attractive to mushroom pickers. Although all mushrooms have General characteristics, there are different types of the same mushroom.

ordinary (real)

The common chanterelle is found in summer, from June to August, most often in deciduous or coniferous forests.

White

The variety is quite rare, it is not so common. But these mushrooms are very tasty. Therefore, they are really hunted, it is not easy to get such a trophy.

black

Chanterelle grows in small groups in deciduous or mixed forests. It is harvested from July to September.

faceted

  • Most often found in forests North America. The body of the fungus is dark orange, funnel-shaped, 3-10 cm in diameter.
  • The top resembles a hat, the edges of which hang down in waves.
  • The pulp is dense, but brittle, has a pleasant aroma.
  • The stem reaches 2.5 cm in length. You can find groups of these mushrooms or single specimens. They collect faceted chanterelle in the summer, until mid-autumn.

The faceted chanterelle has a special value, because of the picture in its composition. Therefore, this species is valued above other mushrooms and even some vegetables.

In addition, faceted fox is often used in medicinal purposes. It is taken by obese people. Substances from the juice of this type of fungus fight acute inflammation. It has an immunostimulating and antitumor effect.

Tubular (funnel)

This species is found in temperate climate, in coniferous forests. Prefers shade or damp location. Such a fox is often hidden among the moss and foliage, so it is difficult to find it. The collection is held in August - September.

This species is considered a rare delicacy. A fragrant soup, dry powder is prepared from it, they are fried, pickled or frozen for the winter.

Velvety

  • It's rare edible kind chanterelles.
  • They have a velvety hat 4-5 cm in diameter. In small fruits, the cap resembles a convex dome, in adults - a funnel.
  • The leg is slightly narrowed near the ground, reaches a height of 2-3 cm, sometimes it can stretch up to 7 cm.
  • The mushroom appears curly due to the wavy edges of the cap. The shades of the tops are different: from light yellow to bright orange or red.
  • The pulp is very tender and velvety. The aroma is pleasant, but the taste is slightly sour.

This is a lamellar type of mushroom, thick and dense plates of which are interconnected by veins. This fungus is very finicky and selective to soil and climate.

The velvety fox has extraordinary taste. It is highly valued for its excellent taste and medicinal properties.

yellow

  • The caps of this species are yellow-orange or bright shade egg yolk.
  • The tops reach 5-10 cm in diameter, depending on age they can be convex, elongated or flat.
  • The pulp is dense, the same shade as the dome. The edges are rounded, the skin is smooth to the touch.

Taste is slightly different from other representatives of this species. Yellow chanterelles have a pungent taste with a spicy forest scent. The processed spore powder is yellow.

Mushrooms grow in mixed and deciduous forests, often hiding in moss or grass, can be found in wet places. The harvest season begins in June and can continue until the very cold.

How to distinguish false chanterelles from edible ones

false chanterelle mushrooms may look like real ones, but in fact they are not related to them. Earlier false chanterelles were considered poisonous, but now they are classified as conditionally edible.

Foreigners consider them edible, but compared to ordinary chanterelles, false ones have much worse palatability. It is customary to call a false fox a kokoshka.

If you cook a false chanterelle correctly, then it will not harm the body. Restriction only for those who have problems with digestion. They may feel heaviness in the stomach.

Somewhat false mushrooms look like chanterelles ordinary.

  • Compared to the real one, the false fox is always brighter. It is most often bright orange or orange-brown, lighter at the edges than in the center. The surface of the coco is velvety.
  • A real chanterelle does not have such bright colors and its color is always the same and uniform, and the surface is smooth. Its colors are lighter and calmer: from whitish to yellow-orange.
  • The diameter of the caps of false chanterelles reaches 3-6 cm, the edges are smooth, rounded. Young representatives have a convex hat, and mature funnel-shaped. The edges of the hats of real chanterelles irregular shape and wavy. They can be up to 12 cm in diameter. The shape of young true representatives of the species is convex, and becomes flat with age.
  • False chanterelles are distinguished by frequent, branching, thin orange plates that pass into the stem. The plates of real chanterelles are dense.
  • pulp false mushrooms tasteless, friable, yellow in color with an unpleasant aroma. Its color does not change when pressed. Real chanterelles have a pleasant-tasting and smelling flesh, white in the middle and yellow on the edge.
  • False chanterelles stand on thin legs of red-orange color. They are cylindrical, darker at the bottom. Adults have hollow legs. Their hats are clearly separated. In real chanterelles, the legs are always full, smooth, matching the color of the cap, with which they are not demarcated.

Often in nature false views grow next to the real ones.

Watch the video! Chanterelle false and real

Is it possible to eat false chanterelles

Scientifically false chanterelles are considered conditionally edible. But, given that real chanterelles can be collected at the same time, it is not recommended to collect false ones.

Many still eat false options, so let's talk, how to cook false chanterelles:

  • They are soaked for 3 days, changing the water twice a day to remove bitterness.
  • Then boil with onions for 20 minutes.
  • After all the manipulations, the preparation of the dish begins directly.
  • But the end result is not worth it. The taste is far from real chanterelles, the unpleasant smell remains, and the structure of the fungus after long stay does not look appetizing in water.

It is important to know! And real chanterelles can provoke poisoning if you cook old fruits. They differ from young ones in a bright orange tint.

How to cook chanterelles ordinary real edible

Chanterelles can be fried, boiled, frozen.

Chanterelles fried in sour cream

First of all, it is necessary to soak them for 30 minutes in water. Then boil in boiling water for 10 minutes. Fry the onion in a skillet sunflower oil, cut finely boiled chanterelles and fry everything for another 15 minutes. Add sour cream. Serve with potatoes.

From chanterelles, you can also cook mushroom mushrooms, but after soaking for 30 minutes.

First aid for mushroom poisoning

1.5 hours after consumption inedible mushrooms the first symptoms of poisoning appear. There is vomiting and nausea, diarrhea with pain, indigestion. The pulse becomes weaker, the extremities are cold, but the body temperature rises. The gastrointestinal tract becomes inflamed, hallucinations and delusions appear. Sometimes, in a difficult situation, insanity occurs in the mind.

If at least one of the listed symptoms appears after ingestion, it is necessary to call ambulance. What can be done before she arrives?

  1. Put the victim to bed.
  2. Give plenty to drink, water or cold tea.
  3. Give activated charcoal (1 tablet per 10 kg of weight).

Watch the video! Chanterelles fried in sour cream


You should be careful not to pick mushrooms that cannot be eaten. Now armed with the knowledge of what do chanterelle mushrooms look like you can safely go hunting.

Chanterelles and false mushrooms - how to distinguish them from each other? The false chanterelle poses no danger to life, since it is not poisonous, but in sensitive people it can cause indigestion, and it tastes very different from its edible relative.

Chanterelle mushrooms grow in moss, among grass and under fallen leaves.

When picking mushrooms, it is best to put safe and delicious mushrooms, not them dangerous twins capable of causing harm to the body, even if insignificant.

The main differences between false chanterelles and real ones

The difference between false mushrooms and real ones:

  1. Coloring. False (popularly "talkers") have a bright orange color, sometimes turning into copper-red. Edible chanterelles are yellow.
  2. Hat. A real chanterelle cannot have a round, even hat. Usually it is oval with a wave around the edges. A hat in the shape of a circle should alert.
  3. Leg. An edible mushroom has a thick, fleshy stalk that smoothly turns into a hat. The spores on the plates are yellowish in color. The false leg is thin, hollow, the color of the spores is white.
  4. Smell. The mushroom aroma of a real chanterelle will not raise doubts that you have an edible mushroom in front of you. The speaker has an unpleasant odor. You just don't want to put it in a basket.
  5. Grow in certain places. The real one will never grow on a fallen tree - this is the place of the talker. The places where the real ones grow are often deciduous forests, moss, fallen leaves, grass.
  6. Real chanterelles grow as a family, often occupying entire clearings. It is simply impossible to pass by them - they immediately catch the eye. Meeting with a single mushroom should alert.
  7. Pulp. Fake ones have a solid orange or bright yellow flesh color. The edible flesh has a yellowish tint, white in the center of the mushroom.

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Additional differences of false chanterelles

What are the differences between false chanterelles and real ones?

The color of the talkers is brighter than that of the chanterelles.

Talkers are dangerous and can easily mislead with their bright color. Like edible chanterelles, they have the original coloring. But experienced mushroom pickers know that correct chanterelles slightly yellowish with an orange tinge along the edges of the cap. It is necessary to distinguish what signs mushrooms have.

The coloring of the talkers is very bright, orange. Many representatives have a fox, copper-red color. Spores are white.

Representatives of these species can also be distinguished by smell. The aroma of talkers is unpleasant, it irritates the sense of smell. You just don't want to take such a mushroom with you. False mushrooms are usually eaten by insects. The entire body of the fungus is in wormholes. Real chanterelles contain chitinmannose, which destroys capsules with larvae of all arthropods and helminths.

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Where can you find false chanterelles?

The fake chanterelle grows only in deciduous and mixed forests. And this species prefers the surface of old fallen trees, moss formations and litter of rotting foliage. There are also representatives that can grow near old anthills. Edible mushrooms very rarely grow alone, but there are such specimens. Due to the large structure of the mycelium itself, they develop in large groups. If you meet a separately located red mushroom, you can be sure that this is a talker. If we compare the habitat of false and edible mushrooms, then the latter will by no means choose old trees and rotting stumps for growth. They prefer moss litter and foliage. Grow in groups.

There was an opinion that false chanterelles were used in folk medicine. It was believed that they were able to fight diseases that affect the liver, in some cases they were used in the fight against hepatitis. But this information has not been scientifically confirmed. These mushrooms should not be used as a medicine on their own.

False chanterelle is a non-poisonous mushroom. At proper preparation, which includes prolonged soaking and boiling, it can be eaten. There will be no poisoning. But you will not feel the taste that accompanies real mushrooms. The talkers are soaked in a large container for three days, while the water is changed 2 times a day. After that, they are boiled for at least 30 minutes. After cooling, you can start cooking or preserving.

Also, these mushrooms help to regenerate liver cells and restore its protective functions for the body. Due to the content of microelements such as copper and zinc in chanterelles, when using preparations from mushrooms, vision can be restored, a disease such as night blindness is cured, and inflammation of the eyes is prevented.

Due to the presence of polysaccharides, chanterelles have an antitumor and immunostimulating effect, increase the body's resistance to infections.

Chanterelles- quite beautiful, tasty and useful mushrooms. Due to their bright yellow color, they are clearly visible in the forest and are difficult to confuse with other types of mushrooms.

Let's take a closer look: where and when to collect chanterelles, types of chanterelles, descriptions and photos, useful and medicinal properties, storage and preparation for the winter.

Chanterelles - description and photo

Golden-colored mushrooms have a delicate fruity smell, slightly reminiscent of apricot.

They are common in Europe, Russia, Africa, Mexico, the Himalayas.

Hat and leg chanterelles looks whole, without visible borders, approximately the same color from pale yellow to orange.

Cap diameter 5-12 cm, irregularly shaped with wavy edges, funnel-shaped or concave, smooth with hard-to-remove skin.

The pulp is dense and fleshy, white or yellowish in color with a slight smell of fruit, a little spicy taste. The surface of the chanterelle becomes reddish when pressed.

Chanterelle leg dense, with a smooth structure, narrowed towards the bottom up to 3 cm thick and up to 7 cm long.

Hymenophore surface represented by wavy folds falling down the leg.

spore powder yellow color.

In what forest do chanterelles grow and when to collect?

From June to mid-October, chanterelles can be found mainly in coniferous forests, as well as in mixed. More often, mushrooms are found in damp areas, in moss, among grass, near pines, firs, oaks.

You can meet chanterelles in numerous groups that appear en masse after thunderstorms.

Types of chanterelles photo and description

Most species of chanterelles are edible. There are more than 60 species of chanterelles, there are no poisonous ones, but there are inedible species- false chanterelle, for example.

Chanterelle ordinary - edible mushroom. Hat 2-12 cm in diameter. Mushrooms with fleshy pulp, yellow at the edges, and white at the cut. Chanterelle ordinary taste with sourness. It grows in coniferous and deciduous forests from June to October.

Chanterelle gray- edible mushroom. The color of the chanterelle is from gray to brown-black. A hat up to 6 cm in diameter, with wavy edges and a depression in the center, the edges are ash-gray.

Elastic pulp of gray color, with inexpressive taste and without aroma.

growing gray fox in deciduous forests from June to October. This species is little known to mushroom pickers, they avoid it.

Chanterelle cinnabar red - edible mushroom. The color of the chanterelle is reddish or pinkish red. The cap is up to 4 cm in diameter, the stem is up to 4 cm high. The flesh is fleshy with fibers. The hat is concave to the center with uneven curved edges. You can find the cinnabar red chanterelle in oak groves in eastern North America. Mushroom picking takes place in summer and autumn.

Chanterelle velvety - a rare, edible mushroom. The cap is orange-yellow or reddish, up to 5 cm in diameter, convex, becoming funnel-shaped with time. The flesh is light orange with a pleasant smell. The velvety chanterelle grows in the deciduous forests of the eastern and southern Europe on acidic soils. This mushroom is harvested from July to October.

Chanterelle yellowing - edible mushroom. Hat up to 6 cm in diameter, yellowish-brown, covered with scales. The flesh on the cut is beige, tasteless and odorless. It can be found in coniferous forests, on wet soils during the summer.

Chanterelle tubular - edible mushroom. Hat up to 8 cm in diameter, funnel-shaped with jagged edges, grayish-yellow. The pulp is dense, white on the cut, has a pleasant smell of earth and has a bitter taste. It mainly grows in coniferous forests.

Chanterelle Cantharellus minor - looks like a common chanterelle, an edible mushroom. Hat up to 3 cm in diameter, orange-yellow, with wavy edges. The pulp is soft, brittle, yellow. Such a fox grows in the oak forests of North America.

False chanterelles - photo and description

The common chanterelle can be confused with two types of mushrooms:

Omphaloth olive (poisonous mushroom)

and orange talker (inedible mushroom)

How to distinguish false chanterelles from real photos

1. edible chanterelle has a uniform color - light yellow or light orange. False chanterelles have bright colors - red-brown, bright orange, copper-red, yellowish-white. In a false chanterelle, the middle of the cap differs in color from the edges and can be covered with spots of various shapes.
2. false fox usually has smooth edges of the cap - a real chanterelle is always torn.
3. A false chanterelle has a thin leg, a real chanterelle with a thick leg. The cap and leg of an edible chanterelle are one piece; in false mushrooms, the cap is separated from the leg.
4. False chanterelles can often be found singly, while a real chanterelle always grows in groups.
5. false mushroom has an unpleasant smell, edible always smells good.
6. If you press on the pulp of edible chanterelle, it will change color to reddish, false chanterelle does not change color when pressed.
7. Poison Doppelgangers may be wormy, the real fox is never.

Video - Beware! Chanterelle false and real

Chanterelles useful properties and contraindications

In chanterelle mushrooms great content various vitamins and minerals D2, B1, A, PP. Zinc, copper.

Chanterelle mushrooms are useful in fight against cancer, to restore vision, in the fight against bacteria, with obesity.

How natural antibiotic they are used in folk medicine.

The calorie content of chanterelles is 19 kcal per 100 grams.

How long can chanterelles be stored fresh

After picking mushrooms, they can be stored at a temperature not exceeding +10 degrees. Do not store in the refrigerator for more than two days after collection, it is better to start processing immediately.

Chanterelles - how to clean

Before processing, the chanterelles must be cleaned of debris, and damaged mushrooms should be discarded. Dirt does not strongly stick to the surface of the chanterelles, so you can remove it with a soft brush or sponge.

Cut off the damaged, rotten parts of the fungus with a knife. For subsequent drying, debris is also removed from the plates with a brush.

After cleaning the mushrooms from debris, rinse them in water, with special care the cap plates. Rinse should be by changing the water several times. If the taste remains bitter, soak the mushrooms for 30 minutes in water.

Why are chanterelles bitter, how to remove bitterness?

Chanterelles have natural bitterness, so pests and insects do not like them, but they are appreciated in cooking. If the mushrooms are not processed immediately after harvest, the bitterness will intensify. Also, increased bitterness of chanterelles is possible due to the influence of some natural factors.

More bitterness in chanterelles collected in dry weather, under coniferous trees, next to trails and businesses, overgrown mushrooms growing in moss, if these are false chanterelles.

It is better to collect and cook young chanterelles, the bitterness content in them is minimal. To remove bitterness, you need to soak the chanterelles for 30-60 minutes in water, then boil. Drain water after cooking.

For freezing, use boiled chanterelles - they will not be bitter and take up less space. If you froze fresh and thawed found that the mushrooms are bitter, boil them in salt water, the bitterness will go into the water.

How to cook and store chanterelles?

Chanterelles boiled, fried, salted, marinated, dried.

Boiled chanterelles within 15-20 minutes after boiling. If you eat chanterelles after cooking, then salt the water. If you fry after cooking, then you do not need to add salt and the cooking process in this case should not last longer than 5 minutes.

Rinse dried chanterelles, soak before cooking for 2-4 hours in warm water. Then boil in the same water for 40 minutes.

Chanterelles are roasting without boiling, but if the chanterelles are bitter, then it is necessary to boil.

Cut the mushrooms before frying. First, fry the finely chopped onion in oil in a pan, then add the chanterelles. Saute mushrooms until all moisture has evaporated. Then salt to taste, add sour cream and simmer until cooked for 15 minutes.

Chanterelles are salted in a cold and hot way.

Pickled chanterelles are prepared with and without pasteurization.

Marinated chanterelles with pasteurization

Thoroughly clean and wash the mushrooms, cut large ones and cook for 15 minutes in salted water with the addition of citric acid.

Arrange prepared chanterelles in clean jars and pour hot marinade, adding onion rings and bay leaf on top. Cover jars with lids and pasteurize for 2 minutes. Then immediately roll up the lids, store in a dry place with a temperature of 0 to 15 degrees.

Dry chanterelles on a drying board or a special dryer, the mushrooms should not touch each other. Before drying, the mushrooms are not washed, but they are cleaned of dirt with a brush, if large ones are cut into several parts.

The rooms in which chanterelles are dried should be well ventilated. Can be dried outside in the shade.

If drying in an oven or oven, the temperature should first be 60-65 degrees, and then higher.

Store dried chanterelles in glass, plastic containers with tight-fitting lids.

Talker orange or Chanterelle false (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) belongs to the Hygrophoropsidaceae family. Previously, this mushroom was considered poisonous, but today it is classified as conditionally edible.

Hat false chanterelle on early stages development of the fungus has a convex shape, which subsequently transforms into a funnel-shaped. In a mature mushroom, its diameter reaches 5 cm. The color of the skin is golden yellow or orange, brightening at the edges. The flesh is uniform, from pale to deep orange in color. Possesses an unpleasant smell.

Below the brim of the cap are orange, descending, adherent to the stem, frequent plates. The diameter of the cut of the leg is about 0.8 cm, and the height is 5 cm. Its color is reddish-orange, darkening at the base.


Chanterelle false

Like common chanterelles, their counterparts are found in forests of any kind, preferring coniferous ones. They appear at the same time (from July to November) and often grow in the neighborhood. Despite many similarities, these mushrooms belong to two various types and families.


Chanterelle ordinary

false chanterelles grow on the ground, stumps, occasionally on rotting wood. Unlike them, edible chanterelles never settle on fallen trees, except perhaps on mossy stumps. In addition, false chanterelles can be found singly, while real ones settle in numerous colonies.

Distinguish these two types of mushrooms by appearance Simple enough, you just need to take a closer look at them. In false chanterelles, the color of the cap is more saturated than in real ones: from orange to brown-copper.

The shape of their hats is also different. At false chanterelles it is funnel-shaped, regular in shape and with smooth edges, while real hat fields are wavy.

The leg of false chanterelles is thicker.


Chanterelle false

You can finally verify the authenticity of mushrooms by the pulp. In real chanterelles, the fruiting body has a pleasant aroma, reminiscent of dry roots or dried fruits. It is slightly sour in taste. The cut of the pulp is yellowish at the edges, and white in the center. When pressed on the pulp, redness appears.

pulp false chanterelle does not have an edible aroma. Taste back side pulp gives bitterness. When pressed, the fruiting body does not change color. The color of the cut is monophonic - yellow or orange.

Accidental use of this is not fatal, but it can cause short-term digestive disturbances in some people.

Perhaps you will be interested :

Chanterelles are mushrooms familiar to many. But only experienced mushroom pickers dare to collect them. The reason is that they have twins that are not easy to distinguish - false chanterelles. They have dubious nutritional qualities and can cause significant harm to the body.

The orange talker (Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca) belongs to the Hygrophoropsidaceae family, Hygrophoropsis genus. Its other name is more common - false chanterelle, obtained due to its resemblance to the edible mushroom of the same name. In some regions it is better known as kokoshka.

False chanterelles look like this:

  • The cap is small, from 1.5 to 6 cm in diameter, in young mushrooms it is flat, with a lowered edge and a depressed center; later takes a clear funnel shape. The surface is dry, velvety. The color of the hat is bright, orange with a red, yellow or ocher tint. With age, it becomes ocher-beige or whitish-reddish.
  • The leg is up to 5 cm in height and thin - no more than 1 cm, even. Under the weight of the hat, it can bend. Colored in the color of the cap, dark at the base, almost black. The pulp is cottony, fibrous
  • The plates are frequent, branched, noticeably descending on the stem; dyed to match the hat.
  • The flesh is light, sometimes with a yellowish tint, more often whitish. The smell is weak, mushroom.

False chanterelles cannot be eaten - until recently, this rule was known to every mushroom picker. They are classified as inedible or even poisonous mushrooms. IN Lately information appears about their transfer to the conditionally edible section with two reservations: especially thorough pre-processing is needed and people with weak digestive system It's better not to eat them anyway. But there is no reliable information confirming the edibility of coconuts. But there are more than enough reports of numerous false chanterelle poisonings with serious consequences. Therefore, it is better to follow the proven rule: do not take dubious mushrooms. This will allow mushroom pickers to maintain their health and the opportunity to continue to enjoy their favorite pastime.

Distribution and fruiting season

The false chanterelle is a fungus that is widespread in the Northern Hemisphere. Prefers coniferous or mixed small-leaved forests. Chooses mossy places with an abundance of litter, deadwood, rotting wood. Under the leaves fallen trees and rotting stumps finds coolness and moisture.

Kokoshkas can grow in groups and singly. Even with group germination fruit bodies are at some distance from each other. The peak of fruiting falls, depending on the weather, at the end of summer or the beginning of autumn.

Similar species and how to distinguish from them

The only "twin" of orange talkers is edible chanterelles. These mushrooms are very similar: only experienced mushroom pickers can distinguish false chanterelles at a glance.

False and real chanterelles differ primarily in color. In kokoshka, it is bright and saturated, with a clear orange, orange-red tint. At edible mushroom it is more moderate: yellow-orange or light yellow, white-yellow, without red and red tones.

The surface of the cap of an edible mushroom is smooth, while that of a false one is velvety. You can identify a false chanterelle along the edges of the cap: neatly rounded, even, smooth. In a real mushroom, they are wavy, torn, irregular in shape; the hat itself large sizes. The plates of the false double descend to the leg, while the real one passes into it.

It gives out an orange talker and a leg: thinner than the real one, and dark at the base. The legs of chanterelles are thicker, do not bend, taper downwards, and are equally colored along the entire length. You can distinguish false chanterelles by the pulp: it is yellowish, loose, does not change color when pressed. The flesh of a real chanterelle is white in the middle and yellowish at the edges, and turns red when pressed. It has a pleasant mushroom smell and rarely worms.

True chanterelles always grow in groups, avoid places clogged with rotting wood. But both species can be found side by side. Therefore, it is important to know what false chanterelles look like. Once in the basket along with edible, they can lead to food poisoning.

Nutritional qualities, possible harm

Information on the toxicity of false chanterelles is contradictory. In some foreign sources, they are classified as edible, but they are not recommended for use. Firstly, because of the extremely low nutritional qualities, and secondly, because of the high probability of poisoning. To reduce it, the mushroom is advised to soak for several days in water, like mushrooms, then boil for 30 minutes, and only then cook. Naturally, the loose cotton-like pulp of the talker after such processing turns into a tasteless mess.

Russian mycologists are more conservative. They argue that you can get poisoned by false chanterelles, regardless of which preliminary preparation Was held. These mushrooms are indeed slightly toxic, and toxins can be destroyed by exposure to high temperatures. But it is impossible to determine at home whether the poison is completely neutralized. Therefore, it is safer to treat false chanterelles as inedible.

Poisoning: symptoms, first aid

False chanterelle contains toxins that affect the functioning of the stomach, intestines, liver, and kidneys. Even pre-treated mushrooms can cause poisoning, and those that have not gone through the soaking and boiling procedure are guaranteed to cause it.

Signs of poisoning appear approximately 30 minutes after the toxins enter the body; depending on the general condition and age, this time can increase up to 3 hours. If a small amount of toxins is ingested, they can show their harmful effects in a day.

Among the symptoms of false chanterelle poisoning, the most common are:

  • weakness;
  • liquid stool;
  • stomach pain, vomiting.

The main danger of these fungi is that pathogenic bacteria often settle on them, including those that cause botulism. As you know, high temperature does not destroy them, but, on the contrary, stimulates reproduction. If, in addition to fungal toxins, bacteria enter the body, then signs of poisoning will appear much later (up to 3 days) and will be accompanied by high temperature, blurred vision, dry mouth.

If signs of poisoning appear, seek immediate medical attention. medical care. Many people think that you can “cope” with them on your own: they wash the stomach, take sorbents and drink plenty of water. In the case of Kokoshka, this is not enough, since there is a threat of the development of concomitant diseases, for example, botulism.

The false chanterelle has always been classified as an inedible, slightly poisonous mushroom. It is for this reason that novice mushroom pickers often bypass real chanterelles - in order to distinguish them, some skill is needed. Despite the fact that the mushroom is advised to be treated as conditionally edible, the attitude of fans of quiet hunting has not changed. Indeed, risking one's health for the very dubious pleasure of tasting a tasteless, fibrous, cotton-like mass is foolish to say the least.