Volnushka
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Incertae sedis (undefined)
- Order: Russulales
- Family: Russulaceae (Russula)
- Genus: Lactarius (Miller)
- Species: Lactarius torminosus (Rose flower)
Pink wave (Lactarius torminosus)
Synonyms:
- Agaricus torminosus
- Volnianca
- Volzhanka
- Volvenka
- Volvyanitsa
- Volminka
- Wave
- Rubella
- Krasulia
- Boob
The pink wolf (lat.Lactarius torminosus) is a mushroom of the genus Millechnik (lat.Lactarius) of the russula family (lat.Russulaceae).
Wave hat:
Diameter 5-10 cm (up to 15), pinkish-red, with dark concentric zones, convex in youth, then flat, depressed in the center, with pubescent edges turned down. The pulp is white or light creamy, brittle, with a faint resinous odor, at the break it emits a white acrid juice.
Plates:
First, they are frequent, white, adherent, yellowish with age, running down the leg.
Spore powder:
White.
Wave leg:
Length 3-6 cm, thickness up to 2 cm, cylindrical, solid in youth, then hollow, pale pink.
Spread:
Volnushka grows from mid-summer to October in deciduous and mixed forests, preferring to form mycorrhiza with middle-aged birches. Sometimes appears in large groups in dense grass on forest edges.
Similar species:
From many milkmen, in particular, from a slightly similar prickly milkweed (Lactarius spinosulus), it is easy to distinguish the wave by the pubescent edge of the cap. From closely related species, for example, from the white wave (Lactarius pubescens), it is very difficult to distinguish faded specimens of the pink wave. The white wave forms mycorrhiza mainly with young birches, and its milky sap is somewhat more pungent.
Edibility:
In Russia, conditionally edible mushroom of good quality, used in salted and pickled form, sometimes fresh in the second courses. Young mushrooms (with a cap diameter of no more than 3-4 cm), the so-called "curls", are especially appreciated in salting. Before cooking, it requires thorough soaking and blanching. It turns yellow in the blanks. Along with silver gray (Lactarius flexuosus) and real milk mushroom (Lactarius resimus) it belongs to the main mushrooms harvested by the population of the north for the winter. Their ratio in blanks varies depending on the yield, but more often waves predominate. They are not eaten in Central and Southern Europe. In Finland, on the contrary, after 5-10 minutes of blanching, they are even fried.
Remarks
In my opinion, the pink wave is one of the most beautiful mushrooms. However, here I am not original. Many call the wave "our mushroom near Moscow". Of course, the wave is very, very far from the real milk mushroom (Lactarius resimus), but it must be admitted: the mushroom is charismatic. This is recognized (indirectly) by the Europeans, who fearfully shy away from any unauthorized manifestations of character from the side of potential food - it is not for nothing that in all their books Lactarius torminosus is declared a harmful, poisonous mushroom. It means that there is definitely something ...
And most of all the waves I met in young aspen forests, in September, in the company of equally pretty boletuses. Can you imagine what a beauty it is?