Birch cep (Boletus betulicola)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Boletales
- Family: Boletaceae
- Genus: Boletus (Borovik)
- Species: Boletus betulicola (White birch mushroom)
Currently, the birch cep Boletus betulicola has been abolished as a separate species. The current name is Boletus edulis.
White birch mushroom belongs to the genus Borovik.
This mushroom is a separate species or form of porcini mushroom.
In some Russian regions, it acquired the local name spikelet . This was due to the fact that the first appearance of fruit bodies coincides with the earing of rye.
The cap of the white birch mushroom reaches a diameter of 5 to 15 cm. When the mushroom is still young, its cap is cushion-shaped, and then takes on a flatter appearance. The skin of the cap is smooth, sometimes slightly wrinkled, while it is shiny, has a whitish-ocher or light yellow color. This mushroom is also found with an almost white cap.
The flesh of the porcini mushroom is birch white. It is dense in structure, with a pleasant mushroom smell. After cutting, the pulp does not change its color, has no taste.
The leg of the mushroom is from 5 to 12 cm in height, and its width reaches from 2 to 4 cm. The shape of the leg is barrel-shaped, solid, whitish-brown in color. The upper leg has a white mesh.
The tubular layer of the young white birch fungus is white, then it turns light yellow. It looks free or can grow narrowly with a small notch. The tubes themselves are 1 to 2.5 cm long, and the pores are round and small.
As for the bedspread, there are no remnants of it.
The spore powder of the fungus is brown, and the spores are smooth and fusiform.
A similar species to the white birch is the gall mushroom, which is inedible and has bitter flesh. In the bile fungus, in contrast to the white birch fungus, the tubular layer turns pink with age, moreover, the surface of the leg has a rough mesh of a darker color in comparison with the main color of the leg.
White birch mushroom is an edible mushroom. Its nutritional quality is valued in the same way as porcini mushroom.
This mushroom forms mycorrhiza with birch, which is why it got its name.
Most often it can be found along the roads and on the edges. The birch white mushroom is most widespread in the Murmansk region; it is also found in Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East, and Western Europe. The mushroom grows in places quite abundantly and is often found, both in groups and singly.
The season for white birch mushroom is from June to October.