A walk in the forest, even for an experienced mushroom picker, can be full of surprises. While walking in the beech forest, you can meet some surprises.

The mushroom from afar, and from above, was deceptively similar to the Toadstool. The hat looked almost exactly like the warted amanita. However, after closer inspection, it turned out that it is a meshed boletus!

This poor fellow suffered in the sun and in temperatures over 30 degrees Celsius. His hat was cracked from the heat and lack of moisture, and it resembled an African desert or the bottom of a dry lake.

Lurid bolete

Most experienced mushroom pickers know this mushroom. There are many opinions about its suitability for consumption. Some say that it is a poisonous mushroom, others that it is inedible, others that it is conditionally edible, i.e. after cooking for a few minutes, and others that it is a normal edible mushroom.

I approach such topics with reserve, and if I have any doubts about the culinary and health value of the mushroom, I give it a wide berth.

A hat of this species can be very large, it can reach up to 25 cm in diameter. It is light brown, olive or brown in color. It turns blue when touched or damaged. The surface is velvety and velor. The underside of the mushroom has a characteristic red or red-orange color.

The mushroom leg is massive, full inside, it can also be stately in size and reach a length of up to 15 cm. After cutting, it darkens and turns blue.

The flesh, like the leg, darkens when damaged and turns blue, has a delicate mushroom flavor and smell.

We can meet the mushroom already in spring, which falls in Europe in May. The gloomy boletus grows until late autumn, that is, even until November. It prefers all forests, coniferous, deciduous, mixed - it can be found even in parks.

😉