visiting local swamp, part 1 - Red Russula
Hola, setero! Happy #FungiFriday to you. Today my Friday post is devoted to such a plain mushrooms as Russula. They dont vary too much their outlook, have no weird shapes, each one look like others (well, more or less). But let me remind you how beautiful they may look like.
They were hiding in a long grass.
The top of the iceberg... and the iceberg itself.
I was not the only one to have an intrest in mushrooms; lizard had an eye on them, too.
Families. They are family mushrooms.
When you found one, dont rush away in a hurry, make some circles around the spot, and you may found other relatives.
This one here is for your post-processing pleasure: below is the edited from .raw version, above is the jpg-sourced camera version.
Perhaps this particular mushroom is a lady,-- look how elegantly she wears her hat!
I will pause on Russula now; I also met other mushrooms at the swamp.
This is the most typical UFO (unidentified Fungi Object). Very tiny, thin and fragile. Good for macro! Growing in the moss, they develop such a very long stem.
We all used to meet a standard edible Russula Emetica, but there exist more rare species in this family. For example, Russula Rosea, which has a distinctive reddish stem (@sketch.and.jam wrote about it today), or Russula foetens which I encountered. In Russian, this Russula's relative has a lot of alternative localized names: валу́й, бычо́к, гриб-плаку́н, свину́р, кульбик, куба́рь, кулачо́к, подтопольник, коровник, кубышка, кучки, дорожки.
It has smooth, shiny, very slimy skin on the cap, which is easy to remove. The flesh of the mushroom is very fragile, white, the cut gradually darkens and becomes brown; its taste is pungent and bitter, it can cause nausea, the smell is unpleasant, similar to rancid oil. The mushroom is not poisonous, but due to abovelisted properties, it is hardly possible to classify it as edible. But some folks have a good results from pickling it, and even consider this shroom to be the best for pickling! What I can say: the tastes differ...
| location: | Russian countryside | june 2020 | natural lighting |
| camera/lens: | Canon 350D | Tamron 60mm | Canon 16-35mm 2.8 |
Now, its time to part ways, I wish you good luck --
and Good Hunting!
oh, and Happy Fungi Friday to you!
#FungiFriday fun challenge is hold by @EwkaW
I hope many of you will join, as there are only 2 simple rules:
- when Friday comes, share your fungi with us! post your own, original photo/drawing/art/food/anything-at-all of any type of fungi (yes, stolen images will be checked and reported !)
- add #fungifriday (not necessarily must be your 1st tag). that's all!
That first one has very pretty shape! I like when they flip like that
Awesome lizard!
agree -- turned out it is a very foto-friendly shape. thats why she got herself to the cover :)
i had no time to edit and upload everything I wanted -- these 10 are top of an iceberg... maybe I will fill in this post with more shots, if i dont sleep in 50 minutes @ewkaw, this was such a productive day at the swamps! tonns of pics. shrooms and berries it was.
Did you shoot all the mushrooms? ALL???
technically speaking -- no. my battery DIED, (and the spare one too)
but, I shot all the blueberries at the area!
Another good use of batteries.
Yummy a pungent oily tasting mushroom lol. There are quite a few of those species that are edible but awful to eat.
exactly !
I have a pickling field guide and bitter gross mushrooms like this tend to be best when pickled. The only problem with russula is they would probably disintegrate during the pickling process. Maybe they are only good for pranks.
those could be pickled, the sources i have read yesterday, says that some folks name this specie of Russula to be their fave pickling... but I do not want to try, really feel no sympathy for this shroom.
:=)
I see sunshine:) Clearly you found lots of shrooms. Did any warmth show up with it or did you try a different forest?
The shot with one in your hand is my fave. I love the detail of the moss around the stem base and the way the bright almost apricot color seems to seep down off the cap into the gills . Very nice shot.
I see lots of red russella growing around here in family groups (and individuals as well).
I watched a vid that said if you taste a red russella (then spit it out) and it's not hot or bitter, it's an edible. Do you know if that is true?
It seems like there are too many similar variations to positively identify. Sure would be a good trick if it's true.
I rather prefer to believe that. but where I live there aint too much biodiversity, not so much RUssula species, so it is not hard to decide the question of edibility. the most part of the problem are worms, that find them first, even the very small ones are infected and partly eaten -- tho they look pretty fresh solid and intact from outside... :/
I changed the forest. actually, I went to the local swamp where the locals use to collect cranberries and blueberries - I found all the mushrooms at the area between the swamp and its wooded edge.
nice that you appreciated that hand+ russula photo. I was impressed with the long stem -- the ones that grow on the solid ground instead of a mossy swamp, often do not need and do not have such a long stem. a special edition :P
So then is the cold summer you're having normal? Why so little biodiversity?