Volvariella is a mushroom of the Pluteae family that lives on wood waste and humus-rich soil. Due to its unsightly appearance and unexpressed taste, this mushroom is not popular. However, volvariella is edible, and may well be eaten, however, after preliminary boiling.
Below you will find information about the most common types of this mushroom – beautiful and silky volvarielle. Learn about doubles, halo of distribution and application. We also bring to your attention a photo of silky volvariella and mucous head.
Volvariella is beautiful (mucous head)
Category: conditionally edible.
The beautiful volvariella mushroom (mucous head) is the largest representative of its kind.
Cap Volvariella gloiocephala (diameter 6-17 cm): white or grayish, less often brownish. In young mushrooms, it has the shape of a small chicken egg, in the rest it has a bell with strongly drooping edges and a tubercle in the center. Dry and velvety to the touch, covered with sticky mucus in wet weather.
The leg of the volvariella is beautiful (height 4-22 cm): usually grayish-white or dirty yellow, solid, without a ring.
It has the shape of a cylinder, and at the base is a tuber shape. In a young mushroom, felt to the touch, becomes smooth over time.
Plates: pinkish or light brown, frequent and wide, rounded.
Flesh: white and very loose, without a pronounced odor.
Volvariella's counterparts: gray float (Amanita vaginata) and white fly agaric. The volvariella differs from the gray float in its grayish cap and deep pink plates. And almost all fly agarics have a ring on their legs.
When it grows: from mid-July to almost the end of October in the temperate zone of the Eurasian continent and in the Far East.
Where to find it: on garbage and dung heaps, rotten bark or in broken hay.
Eating: after 10-15 minutes of boiling. It is considered a conditionally edible mushroom; it is not of interest for cooking.
Application in traditional medicine: not applicable.
Other names: mucous volvariella, mucous head volvariella, viscous cap volvariella, mucous head volvariella.
Mushroom volvariella silky
Category: conditionally edible.
Cap of volvariella silky (Volvariella bombycina) (diameter 6-22 cm): fibrous, white or yellowish, in the shape of a cone or bell, sometimes with tubercles over the entire surface. Silky to the touch.
Leg (height 6-16 cm): white, cylindrical, tapering from bottom to top. Very dense, fibrous, with a small tuber at the base.
Plates: frequent and loose, white or slightly yellowish.
Flesh: fleshy, white in young mushrooms, yellowish in old ones. No special smell at the cut or fracture site.
The counterpart of the volvariella silky is a white float (Amanitopsis alba), but it does not grow on trees.
When it grows: from early July to late September in the northern part of the Eurasian continent.
Where to find: In deciduous forests, in weakened trees, often near elms, lindens, aspens and poplars.
Eating: although it belongs to conditionally edible mushrooms, it can be eaten fresh or pickled.
Application in traditional medicine: not applicable.
Other names: volvariella bombicin.
