Catatelasma swollen (Catathelasma ventricosum)
Systematics:
- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Agaricales (Agaric or Lamellar)
- Family: Catathelasmataceae
- Genus: Catathelasma (Catatelasma)
- Species: Catathelasma ventricosum (Catatelasma swollen)
- Other names for the mushroom:
- Sakhalin champignon
or
Sakhalin champignon
Sakhalin champignon – grows in summer and autumn in coniferous forests. On the territory of Russia, it is found in coniferous and mixed forests of the Far East. This fungus often develops characteristic gray spots on its whitish cap. Creeping plates, a rather large hanging double ring on the leg, dense white pulp with a mild mushroom (NOT flour!) Odor, no special taste, and plus a very considerable size – all this makes the mushroom quite recognizable.
With Catathelasma ventricosum (Sakhalin champignon), confusion periodically arises, since many (foreign, translator's note) authors describe it with a brown hat and a flour smell, which is characteristic of Catathelasma Imperiale (Imperial champignon). Western authors have tried to separate the two based on cap size and microscopic examination, but so far it has been poorly done. The cap and spores of Catathelasma Imperiale are theoretically slightly larger, but there is a significant overlap in the ranges of both caps and spores.
Until DNA studies are carried out, it is proposed to separate Catathelasma ventricosum (Sakhalin champignon) and Catathelasma Imperiale (Imperial champignon) in the old fashioned way: according to color and smell. The Sakhalin champignon has a whitish cap that turns gray with age, while the imperial champignon has a yellowish tint in its youth, and when ripe it darkens to brown.
Description:
At the beginning of growth, the entire fruiting body of the fungus is clothed with a common light-brown veil; during growth, the veil breaks at the level of the edge of the cap and breaks up into pieces that quickly fall off. The private veil is white, strongly stretching and thinning during growth, closes the plastics for a long time. After breaking, it remains in the form of a ring on the leg. Hat: 8-30 centimeters or more; convex at first, then becomes slightly convex or almost flat, with a curved edge. Dry, smooth, silky, whitish in young mushrooms, acquires a more grayish color with age. In adulthood, it often cracks, exposing white flesh.
Plates: Adherent or weakly descending, frequent, whitish.
Stem: About 15 centimeters long and 5 centimeters thick, often thickened towards the middle and tapering at the base. Typically deeply rooted, sometimes almost entirely underground. Whitish, light brownish or grayish in color, with a hanging double ring, which, according to various sources, can either remain on the stem for a rather long time, or decay and fall off.
Flesh: White, tough, firm, does not change color when broken or pressed.
Smell and taste: The taste is indistinct or slightly unpleasant, the smell of mushroom.
Spore powder: White.
Ecology: Presumably mycorrhizal. Grows in summer and autumn alone or in small groups on the ground under coniferous trees.
Microscopic examination: spores 9-134-6 microns, smooth, oblong-elliptical, starchy. Basidia about 45 microns.
Edible: Considered a high quality edible mushroom. In some countries it is of commercial importance. It is used in any form, it can be boiled, fried, stewed, marinated. Since the mushroom has no distinct flavor of its own, it is considered an ideal addition to both meat and vegetable dishes. When preparing for future use, it can be dried and frozen.
Similar Species: Catathelasma Imperiale (Champignon Imperial)
