Bitter (peppermint): photo and description of the mushroom
Family: Russulaceae (Russulaceae).
Synonyms: peppermint.
Description and photo of the bitter mushroom: The cap is 4-12 cm in diameter, flat-convex, with an inwardly curved edge, depressed with age to a deep funnel-shaped, with a prominent central tubercle, fleshy, dry, dark red-brown, often with a characteristic silky sheen. The plates are narrow, frequent, at first with a pale whitish bloom, in the places of the fracture, milky juice is abundantly secreted. The pulp is at first whitish, then pale yellow, yellowish or with a reddish tint, with a slight smell of resinous wood. Milky juice is watery-white, extremely pungent, very plentiful, does not change color in air. Stem 1-2 X 4-10 cm, usually somewhat lighter than the cap, cylindrical, sometimes swollen, whitish and pubescent at the base, hollow with age.
The bitter mushroom is widespread throughout the northern and middle part of the forest zone of Russia, often and abundantly everywhere.
As seen above in the photo, bitter forms mycorrhiza with pine, spruce, fir, birch and hazel, often found in swamps. Fruiting in May-November.
Similar species. It differs from other similarly colored milkers in an exceptionally burning taste and a characteristic tubercle in the center of the cap.
Medicinal properties: An alcoholic extract from fresh fruit bodies of bitter is antibacterial against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella thyphi and S. paratyphi.
Cooking Applications: Bitter is the most caustic of all the milkmen that grow in our country. It is used for pickling and pickling after a long preliminary soaking.
