Introduction

    A short series on underground mushrooms. Most of you associate underground mushrooms with a species called "Truffle" (Tuber), but there are many more underground species. It might seem that the mushroom underworld is sad and colorless. Nothing could be more wrong. It is a world full of beautiful colors, forms and shapes.

Rhizopogon roseolus

    The mushroom is most often spherical, ovoid, and resembles a small potato tuber. The surface of the fungus is covered with a net of cobwebs, filaments coming from the root and entwining the entire fruit body. The maximum dimensions encountered are about 40 mm in diameter. Color most often pale orange, pinkish, slightly rusty. The older the fruiting body, the closer it is to brown in color.  

    The flesh of the mushroom is soft, it resembles a maze when enlarged. After being slightly crushed, it returns to its original shape like a sponge. The young fruiting body is light, white or white-gray in color, darkening over time and becoming greenish. It has no special smell or taste.  

    Distribution: It grows mainly in the pine forests of North America, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Europe. It appears in summer and bears fruit until autumn.  

    Value: In Europe, it is not harvested and considered inedible. In Asia, it is known as "Shoro" and is sourced for consumption. Large-scale mushroom cultivation has been successfully developed and successfully implemented in Japan and New Zealand.