By Sara Orlos Fernandes
That’s rare at this time of year: it’s mid-August and mushrooms sprout in the woods every day. BZ explains where you can find them and which ones you should be careful with.
Cars from Berlin and the surrounding area are parked behind Großbeeren in the middle of the forest on the side of the road – on weekends the forest is blocked. The mushroom season has started, this year much earlier than usual!
“The cool weather and the rain in recent weeks have contributed to the fact that mushrooms could develop,” says Wolfgang Bivour (73), chairman of the Brandenburg State Association of Mushroom Experts (BLP eV).
A look at the mobile phone and a call to the sister confirm collector Martina St.: It is a net-stalked boletus! Sufficiently cooked or fried, it tastes almost like a porcini mushroom, raw it is poisonous Photo: Olaf Selchow
It is usually too dry for mushrooms at this time of year, the high season is usually in September and October.
In the forests there are currently growing boletus, boletus, parasol mushrooms, chanterelles, pearl mushrooms, many russula and chestnuts, as well as poisonous representatives such as carbolic mushrooms, panther mushrooms and death cap mushrooms. “That’s decent, but it’s not the abundance of species that we know from autumn,” says the mushroom expert.
Where are mushrooms?
Peter L. (68) from Großbeeren opened the mushroom season: “Here you almost only see Berliners who come to Brandenburg to pick mushrooms. If it gets too full for me, I drive to Beelitz. I found a big boletus today. There are also butter mushrooms” Photo: Olaf Selchow
If you want to collect mushrooms, you should currently look in deciduous forests or mixed deciduous forests, if possible under young trees, because the soil there contains more water. There are currently more here than in pure pine forests. Forest areas in the north, such as in the Uckermark and in the Barnim district, are particularly suitable. But the southern area around Zossen and Potsdam is also a popular mushroom area.
When looking for mushrooms, you can take a small amount of mushrooms home with you for your own consumption. “That’s one to two kilos per person per day,” says Wolfgang Bivour.
Distinguish poisonous doubles
Left: a deadly poisonous panther mushroom. Right: An edible pearl mushroom Photo: picture alliance
pearl fungus (edible) and panther mushroom (poisonous): The pearl mushroom has a ridged cuff and reddish tones. The panther mushroom, on the other hand, shows no red tones in the flesh.
Anise Mushroom (edible) and Carbolic Mushroom (poisonous): Carbolic mushrooms turn yellow when injured. Therefore, keep your hands off yellowing mushrooms!
The Anischampignon or Schafgerling (Agaricus arvensis) Photo: picture alliance
The carbolic mushroom or carbolic mushroom (Agaricus xanthoderma). Caution: poisonous! Photo: picture alliance/dpa
Giant Umbrella Mushroom (edible) and garden umbrella fungus (toxic): Watch out for redness! Be careful with umbrella fungi, which turn red when injured.
witch bolete (edible) and Satan Boletus (Poisonous): The characteristics of the witch bolete are its yellow flesh and brown hat. The mushroom blues profusely when cut through. There is the flake-stemmed bolete (see below) and the net-stemmed bolete. The latter is suspected of being incompatible with alcohol, both being toxic when raw. The satanic mushroom, on the other hand, has light flesh, a gray cap and does not blue as much.
Good edible mushroom: the flake-stemmed bolete. He bruises badly when cut Photo: picture alliance
Poisonous: Satan’s boletus Photo: picture alliance
Common boletus (edible) and bile boletus (inedible): The porcini mushroom has a light-colored stalk network and white, yellowish, green to olive-green tubes. The gallbladder has a raised dark net of stalks and pink tubes. In young mushrooms, the tubes are white in both mushrooms. It is particularly difficult to distinguish there.
Two porcini gems Photo: picture alliance
The gall boletus: Inedible because it is very bitter Photo: picture alliance
By the way: 4,800 species of mushrooms were found in Brandenburg’s forests by mid-August!