Larch flywheel (Psiloboletinus lariceti) photo and description

Larch flywheel (Psiloboletinus lariceti)

Systematics:
  • Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
  • Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
  • Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
  • Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
  • Order: Boletales
  • Family: Suillaceae (Oily)
  • Genus: Psiloboletinus (Psiloboletins)
  • Species: Psiloboletinus lariceti (Larch moss)

Synonyms :

  • Phylloporus lariceti

  • Boletinus lariceti
  • Larch boletin

Larch flywheel -Psiloboletinus lariceti

Psiloboletinus is a genus of fungi of the Suillaceae family. It is a monotypic genus containing one species, Psiloboletinus lariceti. The species was first described by the mycologist Rolf Singer in 1938 as the Phylloporus species. Alexander H. Smith disagreed with Singer's general concept, concluding: “Regardless of which arrangement of the type species Psiloboletinus is ultimately made, it is clear that there are no clearly distinguishable characters by which the genus could be recognized. based on Singer's descriptions ”.

"Larch" - from the word "larch" (a genus of woody plants of the pine family, one of the most common species of conifers), and not from the word "deciduous" (Deciduous forest - a forest consisting of deciduous trees and shrubs).

Description

Hat : 8-16 cm in diameter; under favorable conditions, specimens with caps of about 20 centimeters are possible. In youth it is convex, with a strongly turned inward edge, then flat-convex; in very adult mushrooms, the edge of the cap is not turned up, it may be slightly wavy or lobed. Dry, felted or tomentose-scaly, velvety to the touch. Brownish, ocher-brown, dirty brown.

Flesh in the cap : dense (not loose), soft, up to 3-4 cm thick. Light yellowish, light buffy, very pale, almost white. Turns blue at a break or cut.

Larch flywheel -Psiloboletinus lariceti

Hymenophore : tubular. The tubules are large, wide, with thickened side walls, and therefore visually form a semblance of plates. They run down strongly on the leg, where they become elongated, which is why their visual similarity with the plates increases. The hymenophore is yellow, light in youth, then yellowish-brownish. If damaged, even minor, it turns blue, then turns brown.

Spores : 10-12X4 microns, cylindrical, fusiform, brown-yellow with drops.

Leg : 6-9 centimeters high and 2-4 cm thick, central, can be thickened at the bottom or in the middle, velvety. In the upper part it is light, in the color of the hymenophore, yellowish-brownish, below it is darker: brownish, brownish, dark brown. Turns blue when pressed. Solid, sometimes with a cavity.

Leg pulp : dense, brownish, blue.

Larch flywheel -Psiloboletinus lariceti

Ring, bedspread, volva : none.

Taste and smell : mild mushroom.

Ecology

It grows only in the presence of larch: in larch forests and mixed forests with the presence of birch, aspen, under larch.

Season and distribution

The peak of fruiting occurs in August-September. It is well known only in Russia, found in Western and Eastern Siberia, Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory, the Far East, especially often and abundantly bears fruit on Sakhalin, where it is called "Larch Moss" or simply "Moss".

Edibility

The mushroom is edible, there is no data on poisoning. Used for making soups, salads, main courses. Suitable for pickling.

Similar species

A slender pig in some growth stages can be mistaken for a larch flyworm. You should carefully look at the hymenophore: in the pig it is lamellar, in young specimens the plates are wavy, so that at a cursory glance they can be mistaken for large tubes. An important difference: the pig does not turn blue, but turns brown when tissue is damaged.

Gyrodons are quite similar to Psiloboletinus lariceti, you should pay attention to the ecology (type of forest).

Goat, different in the color of the flesh in the damaged areas, its flesh does not turn blue, but turns red.

Healing properties

Purposeful studies have been carried out, there are works on the thrombolytic properties of enzymes of basidal fungi (Botanical Institute named after V.L. Komarov, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia), where there is a high fibrinolytic activity of enzymes isolated from Psiloboletinus lariceti. However, it is too early to talk about widespread use in pharmacology.

Note.

The article uses photographs from questions in "Recognition" as illustrations. If you have good photos of this mushroom, please share.

Photo in the gallery of the article: Anatoly Burdynyuk.