Hericium reddish yellow (Hydnum rufescens)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Incertae sedis (undefined)
- Order: Cantharellales (Chanterelle (Cantarella))
- Family: Hydnaceae (Hericium)
- Genus: Hydnum (Hydnum)
- Species: Hydnum rufescens (Hericium reddish yellow)
Synonyms:
Hericium redhead
Hydnum repandum var. rufescens
The reddish yellow hedgehog mushroom is a wild mushroom species. In appearance, it is an unusually spreading mushroom that is quite rare in Russian forests.
At first glance, its surface resembles an imprint from a footprint of a large wild animal. It grows mainly in small groups in mixed forests. Occasionally found in moss or low grass.
The mushroom is decorated with a hat, the diameter of which reaches five centimeters. The cap of the mushroom, colored reddish-red, is wavy, with rather thin brittle edges. In dry weather, the cap fades.
The cylindrical reddish leg reaches four centimeters. It has a felt down on its surface and is weakly attached to the ground. This allows you to easily pick up the mushroom and put it in the basket. The light, fragile pulp, which does not have a pronounced taste, hardens with the age of the mushroom, which is especially true for the mushroom leg. Hericium is reddish-yellow when ripe, it emits a spore powder of white or cream color. The back of the mushroom consists of thin, easily breaking off small needles of a reddish-yellow color.
The mushroom is edible and is used primarily at a young age. Ripe mushrooms are very bitter and taste like a rubber stopper. Young hedgehog is used for cooking various dishes after preliminary heat treatment and boiling. The broth obtained in the process of boiling is poured out. The mushroom can be salted for long-term preservation.
Hericium reddish yellow is well known to professional mushroom pickers who are well versed in all types of mushrooms currently growing.