Gymnopilus of Juno (Gymnopilus junonius)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Hymenogastraceae (Hymenogastric)
- Genus: Gymnopilus (Gymnopil)
- Species: Gymnopilus junonius (Hymnopilus of Juno)
- Other names for the mushroom:
- Hymnopil prominent
or
Hymnopil prominent
Gymnopilus Juno (lat. Gymnopilus junonius ) is very beautiful and photogenic fungus. It belongs to the Stropharia family and is considered not poisonous, but inedible due to its strong bitterness. Currently, edible mushrooms of this kind are unknown to science. In ancient times, this mushroom was even considered hallucinogenic.
In appearance, the hymnopil looks like an edible flake, the cap of which is not mucous, yellow-ocher, with rather thick plates, and it grows on willows.
The mushroom is rather large in size. It is decorated with a yellow or even orange hat measuring fifteen centimeters in diameter. The surface of the cap is densely covered with small, numerous scales flatly pressed against the mushroom cap. In color, they do not differ from the color of the paint itself. The hemispherical cap in young mushrooms later turns into a flat cap with rather wavy edges. The yellow plates of the fungus change over time to rusty brown. The fibrous stem is thickened at the base and is tapered in shape. It has a filmy dark-colored ring on top, sprinkled with spores rusty in color.
Juno's hymnopil is found from mid-summer to late autumn, mainly in mixed forests. A favorite growing area is the soil under the oak tree or the soil at the base of oak stumps.
Among mushroom pickers, it is considered a wood destroyer, but it often parasitizes on living trees. Alone, it is extremely rare, mainly grows in small obese groups.
The distribution area is located practically throughout the Russian territory, except for the cold northern places.
This type of mushroom is well known among amateurs and professional mushroom pickers who are well versed in modern types of mushrooms.