Hey hey :)
I know it is not the end of the week yet, but only the beginning.
But today I felt like writing something about the forest i went to.
Actually, German forests are very magical to me. More so than any other forest. has surprises in store for me later ^^?
a few days ago, winter began in germany.
so it snowed.
at night, the snow reflected the light from the street lamps and the forest looked so sketchy and shadowy.
so my hopes for mushrooms faded.
even if i find some, they would be frozen.
one week later, i went back to the forest and found lots of them:
My app tells me it is:
(in German: Gemeiner Kartoffelbovist)
In german there are 2 other names for the species:
And a lot of scientific synonymes:
Because of its appearance, this fungus is called a potato puffball (this is the literal translation from German). It grows along the edge of the forest and looks like a potato, but it isn't one!
The mushrooms is in the family of Sclerodermataceae (in German: Dickröhrlingsverwandten).
Its in the order of Sclerodermatales.
which is in the class Agaricomycetes. And this one is in the stem of Basidiomycota.
He is very common in Europe and the north of america and it grows in deciduous and coniferous forests. It likes to form symbiotic relationships with beech, spruce, or birch trees. He loves acidic, nutrient-poor and preferably sandy soil.
Sadly, you cannot eat it. It's toxic and the symptoms are gastrointestinal complaints. There are also reports of fainting spells and severe visual disturbances until you pass out. Also: Dizziness, sweating, low blood pressure, collapse and hallucinations.
On the other hand, the thick-skinned potato puffball does appear to be used as a truffle substitute in Eastern Europe. The black, still firm flesh of the fruiting body is thinly sliced, dried, and used in small quantities to season dishes. Important: All reports we could find on this subject mentioned small quantities and heated dishes. Larger quantities and, above all, raw consumption are likely to lead to the symptoms of poisoning described above.
BUT they aren't truffels! and this recipe is not recommended.
similar species are:
In the beginning of the growth the fruit body is whitely and later on it is yellow-brown to olivbrown. also it is crisscrossed with dark veins.
He doesnt have lamells or a stem.
The mushroom has no ring, as it also has no stem.
The surface is scaly and warty and the growth form is tuberous. The cap contains black grains, an important feature when classifying the potato puffball.
If the fungus wants to reproduce again next year, it releases spores.
In the dark forest with a flashlight, you can see in a mushroom forest how many pores are floating around in the air and how we breathe them into our lungs all the time. That is the breath of the forest.
The spore print color is dark brown to black.
His height is 3-8 cm and the hat diameter is also 3-8 cm.
in the late summer till autumn the fungi grows.
Nutrient uptake is achieved through mycorrhizal fungi. It refers to a form of symbiosis between fungi and plants in which a fungus is in contact with the fine root system of a plant.
the smell is earthy and unpleasant. It reminds of sharp metallic, methan and city gases.
Taste: Mild
If you step on it by accident it will emit smoke. These are the spores.
There is another mushroom which acts parasitic on this fungi. In german it is called "Schmarotzer-Röhrling" and I found that it is a species in the genus of Pseudoboletus. If such a parasitic fungus appears on potato puffballs, this should be reported in Germany. If a large quantity of Scleroderma Ctrinum appears, the likelihood of the parasitic fungus occurring is higher. Nevertheless, findings are rather rare.
If small boletes emerge from the mushroom, they are edible parasitic boletes!
And of course, I'm not at all sure whether I've confused this mushroom with another one.
