These early mushrooms with consonant names are often confused - because they are similar in appearance. Both mushrooms are spring ones; they “hunt” them from the end of April - when there are no other representatives of the mushroom kingdom.
Relatives or not?
Despite the similarity of names and appearance, these mushrooms do not even belong to the same family:
- The lines are from the Discinov family.
- Morels - from the family of morels (Morshells).
Mushroom pickers may not even know which families these or those mushrooms belong to, it is much more important to remember what they eat — morels, and it is better to bypass the lines — there are too many poisonings on his account.
Which of them is poisonous?
Morels are suitable for preparing different dishes. Some of the morels are edible, and some are conditionally edible. Lines are strictly forbidden to eat raw - they are poisonous. Some varieties can be used in cooking, but only after special treatment.
The content of poison in the lines is inconsistent - it varies depending on the place of growth and on the weather. They are especially toxic if the spring is dry.
The lines are full of gyromitrin - this is a poison that does not break down even after prolonged boiling. In a number of countries, the lines are unambiguously - in full strength, classified as poisonous mushrooms.
External Feature Comparison
The confusion between mushrooms with funny names can end up completely sad - without special treatment, which not all mushroom pickers know about, the lines are deadly. We present in table 1 a comparative analysis of morels and lines in appearance:
Table 1
Comparative features | Morels | Lines |
Hat - what does it look like? | Elongated, in the form of a cone. It resembles an egg in shape. Less commonly, in the form of a ball or a flattened ball. | Shapeless and lumpy, put on a leg, like a turban. |
Hat size | In diameter - 3-7 cm, in height - 3-8. | Spherical hats 2-10 cm in diameter, sometimes reach 13 cm. |
Fruit body | Hollow | Filled with sinuous flesh. There are separate cavities. |
Pulp | In a section - whitish. Tender, crumbles easily. | Delicate, fragile. |
Leg | Fine-grained type, color - white. Height - up to 10 cm. In diameter - 3 cm. Not buried in the ground - stuck out of the soil, moss, needles, and it is clearly visible from afar. | The leg is short and swollen. Fully recessed in the ground, mossy or coniferous litter. |
Hat pattern | The surface is dotted with cells of different sizes. | Dotted with wavy stripes, the hat looks like a brain or walnut. |
Hat color | It can vary from ocher yellow to gray and brown. | The color is dark - brown, brownish, brown-red. |
Smell | Bright mushroom - pleasant. | Barely noticeable. Associated with damp |
What are morels?
Everything would be simpler if the lines and morels existed in one form, but these mushrooms have several varieties that differ in external data. Having studied the signs of the most common lines and morels, you can easily identify the mushrooms found in our forests.
Morel ordinary
Morchella esculenta. His hat and leg merge into a single mushroom body. Distinctive features of morel ordinary:
- Hat. Cellular, ovoid. Inside is hollow.
- Leg. Long, whitish. It extends up to 10 cm. The color of the hat is from yellowish to brown.
Slugs and snails are hidden in the morel cap; therefore, morels are washed intensively before use.
Morel conical
Morchella conica. Leg and hat are fused into a single fruiting body. Conical morel can be distinguished by such signs:
- Hat. Hollow and cellular. It differs from ordinary morel with a pointed hat. Its height - 3-9 cm - is 2/3 of the total length of morel. Color - from yellow-brown to black-brown.
- Leg. Cylindrical, hollow inside. Height - 2-4.5 cm, thickness - 1.5-3 cm. The surface of the legs is velvety due to longitudinal grooves. Color - from white to yellowish.
Morel high
Morchella elata. It is very similar to a conic morel. But his hat is darker and the fruit body is larger. In height, the mushroom grows to 25-30 cm.
- Hat. A long mushroom with a conical shape hat is 4–10 cm high and 3–5 cm wide. The hat is covered with triangular cells and an olive-brown color. As they mature, the cells become brown or black-brown. Partitions - olive-ocher color.
- Leg. It reaches a height of 15 cm, it is first white, and eventually acquires ocher shades.
Morel steppe
Morchella steppicola. This is the largest morel of those that can be found on the territory of Russia. His sinuosity is extremely pronounced.
- Hat. Spherical. This is the main difference, the rest of the brothers have elongated hats. Color - taupe. The diameter of the hat is 2-10 cm, the height is 2-10 cm. The maximum diameter is 15 cm.
- Leg. White color. It differs in small length - only 1-2 cm. Inside - voids.
With such external signs - a short leg and a spherical hat, steppe morel is easy to confuse with a line - be careful!
The mushroom reaches a height of 25 cm, and grows to 2 kg.
What are the lines?
The lines are different, they all differ in the nuances of appearance. Consider common species.
The line is ordinary
Gyromitra esculenta. It rarely grows in the forest. Prefers sandy non-grounded soil. Fruits from March to May.
- A hat. In diameter 2-13 cm. The shape is irregularly rounded. Chestnut brown.
- Leg. In height - 3-9 cm. In diameter - 2-4 cm. Whitish, grayish or yellowish. Often flattened. Inside is hollow.
The pulp is waxy, the smell cannot be called unpleasant - it can fool an inexperienced mushroom picker.
Giant stitch
Gyromitra gigas. The fruit body, as the line should be, looks like a winding walnut kernel.
- Hat. In winding stripes. Inside the cavity. The shape is irregular spherical. It has a folded structure. The color is yellowish. The diameter of the hat of the ripened giants is 7-30 cm.
- Leg. Short, only 2-3 cm high, sometimes it is not visible at all. Inside - hollow, color - whitish.
Gigantic lines can be eaten, since they have less gyromitrin than in other species. But before use, it must be thoroughly boiled. There is another opinion - the lines are poisonous and are not suitable for food.
The giant line, in contrast to the usual one, has a hat larger and lighter. It creeps out more often under birch trees. The pulp, thin and breaking, has a pleasant mushroom smell, although usually the lines smell bad.
Autumn line
Gyromitra infula. This bizarre mushroom is often called "horned" - for the unusual shape of the hat. His external data:
- Hat. Reaches 10 cm wide. The shape is folded. At first the color is brown, with age it gets darker - brown-black. It has a horn-saddle shape. Usually a mushroom has three fused “horns”. The surface is velvety.
- Leg. Length - 3-10 cm. Width - 1.5 cm. Inside it is hollow, it is flattened. Color - from white to brownish and gray. Cylindrical shape, bottom leg thickened.
The mushroom flesh is fragile, crumbling, waxy. No pronounced aroma. It will not be possible to confuse it with morels - this mushroom, unlike other lines, grows in July-August. Extremely dangerous.
Where do morels grow?
They grow in any forest. Moreover, different species prefer certain trees, for example:
- Conical morel, more often found in pine forests, less often - in deciduous forests. It prefers clearings, shrubs, willows, but can grow in the garden, in the field.
- Gray giant morel not so whimsical to the soil and terrain - it settles even on clay wastelands. It is found in poplar groves and in shelterbelts.
- Morel hat. Avoids shade. In early May, it grows in burned areas, clearings, near roads.
Growth conditions:
- Love moisture. With high humidity, they grow even in a treeless desert.
- In early spring, while the soil is wet, the mushroom grows in almost any environment - you can even find it in your own garden or vineyard.
- If you go for a massive crop of morels, then it is better to look for them in well-lit glades and in scorched areas.
Morels, unlike other fungi bearing two to three months in duration, appear for a very short time. As soon as spring moisture leaves the soil, morels disappear. They appear only once a year - for a couple of weeks.
In good weather, when it is warm and damp, the crops are grandiose. But few who go in the spring for mushrooms. Therefore, morel families often remain intact. Why are they not being collected? Perhaps due to the fact that they are not attractive in appearance, they do not grow out of season, and most importantly, many are afraid of poisoning. But if you look at the external signs, then confusing the edible morels with dangerous lines is unrealistic.
A lover of “silent hunting” tells how lines differ from morels, how they grow, and how to look for them:
Where do the lines grow?
Grow in the same places as morels. Lines come out at the end of April, in pine forests, choosing places warmed by the sun. These mushrooms, as well as morels, come in different species, and each variety has its own preferences, for example:
- A giant line grows in pine trees and in plantings for the cultivation of oil crops.
- Autumn line grows in any forests - coniferous and deciduous, loves rotting wood.
Is there a difference in taste?
Lines and morels are similar in many respects, but the main thing that unites them is an excellent rich mushroom taste. Gourmets will never exchange these spring mushrooms with brittle flesh for champignons and oyster mushrooms grown on a substrate. About the taste:
- Morels. They have a wonderful taste. Especially tasty after frying and stewing.
- Lines. They are not inferior in taste to morels. It is not difficult to figure out that if you eat conditionally edible mushroom, then it tastes great. Soups, sauces, fillings are prepared from the lines, they are fried and baked. It is important that long digestion does not impair the taste of these strange mushrooms.
Is there any difference in the preparation of morels and lines?
Morels are conditionally edible mushrooms. They can be eaten only after heat treatment. They have a little toxic substance - hydrosine. The method of preparation of lines and morels are similar:
- Morels. They can only be cooked after boiling. Cooking time - 15-20 minutes. Also, the fruit body of the fungus loses its toxin when dried - so morels can be dried. Boil them in salted water. The broth is poured, the mushrooms are washed in running water. After that, the mushrooms are ready for further culinary processing - they can be fried, stewed, pickled, frozen.
The procedure for boiling morels is mandatory for any form of cooking mushrooms, they are not boiled just before drying.
Morels are not recommended for use in first courses - they lose their taste and aroma. Morels also make a powdery seasoning! - Lines. They are certainly boiled. Whether there are lines or not, everyone chooses for himself. Scientists have found strong toxins in the lines, but many people still collect and eat these spring mushrooms. Mushroom processing conditions:
- For 1 kg of mushrooms take 6 liters of water. For 100 g - from 2 liters.
- A pinch of soda is thrown into boiling water. And only then mushrooms.
- After boiling the mushrooms for 20 minutes, drain the water. Boiled lines are washed.
- Unlike morels, stitches are cooked twice.
Stitches, as well as morels, can be dried. Those and other mushrooms can not be eaten immediately after drying - you must wait at least a month. In the oven, the lines are dried for an extremely long time. The temperature is set to +55 degrees. In the air, the lines are dried up to six months.
Morels and lines have much in common, but knowing their distinguishing features, you can easily distinguish these mushrooms from each other. If “silent hunting” is your hobby, you should be armed with knowledge to help you recognize the danger.
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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