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The conical hygrocybe (Hygrocybe conica) is not such a rare mushroom. Many saw him, even kicked him down. Mushroom pickers often call it a wet head. It belongs to the lamellar mushrooms from the Gigroforov family.
What does a conical hygrocybe look like?
The description is necessary, because novice mushroom pickers often take all the fruit bodies that come to hand, without thinking about their benefits or harms.
The conical hygrocybe has a small cap. The diameter, depending on age, can be 2-9 cm. In young mushrooms, it is in the form of a pointed cone, bell or hemispherical. In mature wet heads, it becomes broadly conical, but a tubercle remains at the very top. The older the conical hygrocybe, the more breaks on the cap, and the plates are clearly visible.
During rains, the surface of the crown shines and becomes sticky. In dry weather, it is silky and shiny. In the forest, there are mushrooms with red-yellow and red-orange caps, and the tubercle is somewhat brighter than the entire surface.
Legs are long, even, straightened, fine-fiber and hollow. At the very bottom, there is a slight thickening on them. In color, they are almost the same as the caps, but the base is whitish. There is no mucus on the legs.
In some specimens, the plates are attached to the cap, but there are conical hygrocybes, in which this part is free. In the very center, the plates are narrow, but widen at the edges. The lower part is yellowish in color. The older the mushroom, the grayer this surface. Turns greyish yellow when touched or pressed.
They have a thin and very fragile pulp. In color, it does not stand out in any way from the fruiting body itself. Turns black when pressed. The pulp does not stand out with its taste and aroma, they are inexpressive.
Ellipsoidal spores are white. They are very small - 8-10 by 5-5.6 microns, smooth. There are buckles on the hyphae.
Where the conical hygrocybe grows
Vlazhnogolovka prefers young plantings of birches and aspens. Loves to breed in moorlands and along roads. Where there is a lot of grassy cover:
- along the very edge of deciduous forests;
- on the edges, meadows, pastures.
Single specimens can be seen in pine forests.
Fruiting of a wet head is long. The first mushrooms are found in May, and the last ones grow before frost.
Is it possible to eat a conical hygrocybe
Despite the fact that the conical hygrocybe is slightly poisonous, it should not be collected. The fact is that it can cause serious bowel problems.
Kindred hygrocybe conical
It is necessary to distinguish between other types of hygrocybe, which are very similar to the conical:
- Hygrocybe turunda or lint. In young specimens, the cap is convex, then a depression appears in it. Scales are clearly visible on a dry surface. In the center it is bright red, at the edges it is much lighter, almost yellow. The leg is cylindrical, thin, with a slight curvature.A whitish bloom is visible on the base. Fragile whitish pulp, inedible. Fruiting lasts from May to October. Refers to inedible.
- Oak hygrocybe is very similar to a wet head. Young mushrooms have a conical cap with a diameter of 3-5 cm, which is then leveled. It is yellow-orange in color. When the weather is damp, mucus appears on the cap. The plates are rare, of the same shade. The taste and aroma of the yellowish pulp are inexpressive. Yellow-orange legs up to 6 cm long, very thin, hollow, slightly curved.
- Hygrocybe oak unlike its relatives, it belongs to conditionally edible. It is found in mixed forests, but bears fruit best under oak trees.
- Hygrocybe acute conical or persistent. The shape of the yellow or yellow-orange cap changes with age. At first it is conical, then it becomes wide, but the tubercle still remains. There are fibers on the mucous surface of the cap. The pulp is practically odorless and tasteless. The legs are very high - up to 12 cm, diameter - about 1 cm.Important! The inedible mushroom is found in meadows, pastures, and forests from summer to autumn.
Conclusion
The conical hygrocybe is an inedible, weakly poisonous mushroom. It can cause problems with the gastrointestinal tract, so it is not eaten. But while in the forest, you should not knock down the fruit bodies with your feet, since there is nothing useless in nature. Typically, the inedible and overgrown gifts of the forest are food for wild animals.
