looduskalender.ee

We usually remember mushrooms in August when chanterelles invade our markets. And after them all the other kinds, until late autumn. Spring is much poorer in mushroom species but then again it is so much more rewarding to find them. The herald of the myco-spring is surely the common scarlet elf cup (Sarcoscypha austriaca) that shines so brightly when the snow melts that it is impossible to pass by without stopping. It can be found in many environments, but especially in deciduous and mixed forests. Alder, particularly when it is rotting, seems to be the favourite of the scarlet elf cup.

 

Delicious morels are much more complicated to find . The light brown touslehead in the photo is the snow morel or calf brain (Gyromitra gigas). Its darker brown brother or sister is the springtime false morel (Gyromitra esculenta), and they are both equally poisonous. They become edible only on parboiling in generous amounts of water. And before that a careful picking over and cleaning is worth while because grains of sand always tend to collect in between the whorls, not to speak of little snails.