Grabovik (Leccinellum pseudoscabrum)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Boletales
- Family: Boletaceae
- Genus: Leccinellum (Leccinellum)
- Species: Leccinellum pseudoscabrum (Grabovik)
- Other names for the mushroom:
- Brown birch
- Elm birch
- Obabok gray
Other names:
Gray birch;
Elm birch;
Gray obobok;
Leccinum griseum;
Leccinum carpini.
Hat: The diameter of the cap can reach 14 cm. The cap of a young mushroom is in the shape of a hemisphere. The edges of the cap are tucked up. Later, the cap becomes cushion. The surface of the cap is uneven, velvety, slightly wrinkled. The hat is olive brown or brownish gray in color. In mature mushrooms, the skin may shrink, exposing the flesh of the cap and the porous layer.
Flesh: soft, fibrous flesh in the stem, white. In mature mushrooms, the flesh is tough. On the cut, the pulp acquires a pinkish-purple hue, then becomes gray and even later almost black in color. Nice taste and smell.
Porous layer: the thickness of the porous layer in the hornbeam (Leccinellum pseudoscabrum) is up to three cm. The layer is free with a notch at the base of the leg. The tubules are soft, slightly watery, narrow. Pores, angularly rounded, small. The pore surface is whitish or sandy gray in color.
Its leg is cylindrical, clavate at the base, thickened. The height of the leg is from five to 13 cm, the thickness is up to 4 cm. The upper part of the leg is olive-gray, the lower is brownish. The surface of the leg is covered with scales, which, during ripening, change color from white to yellowish and finally acquire a dark brown color.
Spore powder: brown. Spores are fusiform. Forms mycorrhiza with hornbeam. Sometimes it can form mycorrhiza with hazel, poplar or birch, but much less often.
Distribution: Grabovik is mainly found in the regions of the Caucasus. The mushroom bears fruit from June to October. As a rule, it grows under a hornbeam, hence the name - Grabovik.
Edible: Grabovik is a good mushroom, suitable for consumption dried, boiled, pickled, salted and fried. True, larvae can often damage it.
Similarity: Grabovik (Leccinellum pseudoscabrum) - similar to boletus. The boletus differs from the hornbeam in that, when broken, its pulp does not change color. At the same time, the hornbeam is less valuable in taste because of the low density of the cap pulp.