Sub-cherry (Clitopilus prunulus)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Entolomataceae (Entolomaceae)
- Genus: Clitopilus (Clitopilus)
- Species: Clitopilus prunulus (Sub-cherry)
- Other names for the mushroom:
- Pendant
Synonyms:
Pendant
- Ivishen
- Cherry
- Common clitopilus
Hanging hat:
4-10 cm in diameter, convex in youth, with age it opens to a funnel-shaped, although not always. The color is quite changeable, from white to yellowish-gray, can vary significantly depending on the growing conditions and the specific "strain". The surface is smooth, dry or slightly damp, shiny (the latter variety is sometimes called Clitopilius prunulus var. Orcellus), not hygrophilous and not zoned. The flesh of the cap is white, thick, firm, with a strong mealy (or maybe cucumber) odor.
Plates:
Private, descending along the leg, cap color; with age, as the spores mature, they turn slightly pink (judging by the suffering with the definition of the fungus, it is not always noticeable).
Spore powder :
Pink.
Leg:
Height 3-6 cm, thickness about 1 cm (in rare cases up to 1.5 cm), uneven, often curved, solid. Color - like a cap or slightly lighter, the flesh of the leg is white, fibrous.
Spread:
Various varieties of the Bearberry are found from July to the end of September everywhere in forests of various types, in woodlands, among grass, always preferring acidic soils. The fungus forms mycorrhiza, as a rule, with pink flowers, but it is also found in spruce forests without the slightest trace of apple and cherry trees.
Similar species:
The genus Clitopilius contains a huge number of species, a significant part of which is extremely similar to Clitopilius prunulus and differs only in microscopic features. Another thing is that many white talkers can look like a wonderful mushroom. Pinking plates (alas, not always and not strongly), not a hygrophane cap without concentric circles (excellent protection against poisonous waxy talker (Clitocybe cerussata) / leaf-loving (Clitocybe phyllophila)) can serve as important distinguishing features. In general, it is important to understand that a sub-cherry is a mushroom, very similar to a large white chanterelle, but smelling of flour or cucumbers.
Edibility:
The mushroom is edible and, according to some sources, is considered highly valuable, however, the strong flour smell is not to everyone's taste, and the resemblance to poisonous talkers and entolomes unknown in the nutritional sense makes gastronomic ambitions moderate.
Remarks
Now it's easy to say, but that's how we, to put it bluntly, have been pretty much worn out with this. A mushroom similar to a large white chanterelle came across to me often and regularly, annoying and perplexing each time. More for the sake of order than for common sense, I considered him a waxen talker, but you cannot deceive yourself endlessly. The main problem was that the appearance of the familiar mushroom was so "talkative" that it never occurred to me to conscientiously pluck an adult specimen and sow spores to see their color. As soon as this was done, there was a long-awaited clarification; Yes, we have before us a simple willow, Clitopilius prunulus, or rather, one of the countless subspecies of this extremely fickle species of mushrooms.