The rainfall these days in Ibiza relieves the drought experienced this summer on the island and favors the proliferation of the delicacy of the land par excellence in autumn: mushrooms. The fans to look for them already have the ground fertilized thanks to the intense precipitations of this week. Mushroom hunting is one of the most popular activities at this time of the year in Ibiza. But not all mushrooms can be eaten, you have to know very well the species that are born on the island to avoid ending up in the emergency room for poisoning. The UIB has prepared a list of the most common edible and toxic specimens that grow in Ibiza and Formentera.
Edible mushrooms
Oyster mushroom (Catalan) – Hohenhuehelia geogenia: ear or shell shaped with the upper part of the cap
open like a fan and the foot that looks like a continuation of it, which can be totally eccentric or lateral. The cap measures 5 to 14 cm in diameter, is gelatinous in wet weather, smooth, shiny and with whitish spots and color ranging from gray to dark brown.
It grows in soil but always attached to roots or stumps. It is usually found in colonies of many individuals.
Bolet / Xampinyó (Catalan) –
Agaricus bitorquis: This whitish mushroom is robust and globular at first and eventually sinks in the center. It has numerous, tightly packed, free, flesh-colored lamellae. The stem is white and robust with longitudinal fibrils. The ring of this species is very characteristic for being split in two or having two rings at different heights, a fact that can be confused with the presence of volva.
It is found in pine forests and other conifers.
Xampinyó (Catalan) –
Agaricus devoniensis: This mushroom has a cap of 5 to 8 cm in diameter, hemispherical at first becoming flat and slightly depressed in the center. The cuticle is dissociated in small scales very close together in the form of strands of color ranging from caramel tone to brown a little grayish and a little purplish. Below this, the lamellae are free, narrow, salmon pink to blackish. The foot is broad, with small, slightly copper-colored scales found on the ring, below which is white. The ring is off-white, narrow and embraces the foot, frayed towards the margin.
It is found in the dunes of es Cavallet and in the Natural Park of ses Salines
Cama de perdiu / Pebrasset de moro / Pota de perdiu / Ull de perdiu (catalan) –
Chroogomphus rutilus: It has a fleshy, smooth, shiny and viscous cap of 3 to 8 centimeters in diameter in the shape of a bell with a central mamelon. It has a reddish earth color with saffron-colored reflections towards the margin, which is thin and slightly curved inside. Under the cap it presents decurrent and spaced, thick and soft purplish-brown almost black laminae.
Very edible, although some people reject it because when cooked it becomes purplish in color. It is common in all the islands.
Amanita baccata
It is a rather rare species found in Formentera. This white to grayish-beige mushroom has a cap of 8 to 15 cm in diameter, first hemispherical and then flat. The cuticle may be cracked and the margin is irregular and frayed. It has numerous free white laminae that yellow with age. The stem is bushy, long and curved and contains a fugaceous, striated ring. It has presence of whitish volva that usually breaks and separates from the foot in pieces of cottony appearance.
Grogues / Pebrades / Pebrades / Pixacà / Pixacà groc (Catalan) –
Suillus Bellini: Mushroom characterized by reddish or reddish-brown spots on the foot, accentuated in mountain species. The foot is rather short and thick.
The cap, which stains the hands when touched, can measure up to 15 cm in diameter, young hemispherical that gradually opens to become almost flat. The coloration is whitish towards the margin and presents more or less brownish tones according to age. Presence of short and bushy tubes that vary from beige to gray. When the weather is humid a kind of latex can come out of the pores in the form of reddish drops.
Before cooking, the skin of the cap must be removed. If the old specimens are to be consumed, the tubes must also be removed. They are very abundant in the Balearic Islands, but not very consumed.
It is found in pine forests and other conifers.
Mataparent de carn groga / Pixacà (catalan) –
Boletus chrysenteron: This mushroom has a flat to convex cap up to 12 centimeters in diameter with a slightly raised margin. It has an ocher to brown and sometimes grayish-brown coloration, which often cracks and a reddish layer can be seen underneath. Under the cap there is a layer of thin tubes of 1 centimeter long, first yellowish and then greenish-yellow and zulose if touched.
They are found in pine forests.
Manetes / Peu de cabrit / Peu de Crist / Peu de rata gris / Ratapeus (catalan) – Clavaria Cenicienta (spanish) –
Clavulina cinerea: Mushroom reminiscent of coral about 3 to 9 centimeters high, variable coloration, from dirty whitish to grayish with darker shades when a little dry, formed by erect branches, cylindrical or flattened round or toothed shape that emerge from a common trunk. These branches may end in a round or toothed shape and run along a kind of groove.
It is laxative and can be toxic if not eaten well cooked. It smells musty.
It is found in pine forests.
Cama-seca / Rogeta (Catalan) –
Clitocybe costata: This toasted mushroom has a wavy cap margin and typical ribs.
This cap is funnel-shaped and measures up to 8 cm in diameter.
The lamellae are decurrent and pale in color.
The foot is fibrous and similar in color to the cap, but a little lighter.
The feet should be rejected for eating because they are a bit tough.
Bolet anisat / Verderol anisat (Catalan) – Anisada / Clitocibe perfumado (Spanish) /
Clitocybe odora: Characteristic of this mushroom is the color of the light bluish green cap, although it can also appear brown ochre clay or ochre cream. The cap is convex to flat, 4-8 centimeters in diameter and may have raised margins.
The underlying lamellae are thin, not very tightly packed and slightly lighter in color than the cap.
It is more frequent in Mallorca. It is good roasted and in a mixture of mushrooms, also as a condiment in small quantities because otherwise it will give a too strong taste of anise.
Bolet de fems / Bolet de tinta (Catalan) – Barbuda / Matacandil (Castilian) –
Coprinus comatus: Elongated egg-shaped cap up to 12 centimeters high that opens gradually ending in the shape of a bell. It is covered with separate white scales forming strands. The apical part is brown or yellowish. The laminae are free, very tight and thin, first white, then pinkish and finally blackish, deliquescent.
Only very young specimens should be consumed, and caution should still be exercised and the foot, which is a bit fibrous, should be rejected. We have eaten them with béchamel sauce and also blanching them and then making them battered and fried as croquettes.
Agulletes / Llengua boïna / Llengua de bou / Llengua de vedella / Peu de cabrit / Picarronell / Picornell / Picornell blanc / Picornell pelut (catalan) –
Hydnum repandum: Mushroom with a cap of 4 to 12 centimeters in diameter, wavy, fleshy, dry and velvety touch, yellowish white to almost cream and rolled margin.
Under the cap it has white needles a little decurrent by the foot, very fragile. The stem is short, irregular, thick and usually yellow but paler than the cap.
It is edible but the old specimens are bitter.
Llenega d’alzinar (Catalan) –
Hygrophorus persoonii: In wet weather this mushroom has a mucilaginous layer on the cap. The cap is convex and closed at first and opens until it ends up having a raised margin.
It can measure up to 9 centimeters in diameter and is grayish brown to honey colored with a lighter or almost white margin.
The laminae are white adnate or decurrent, separate and arched. The foot is long, a little thick, whitish on top and covered with very slimy scales underneath.
It is rare but abundant where it grows.
Blanqueta /Blava. Bolet fort / Campanilles / Cogoma / Esclata-sang blanc / Esclata-sang d’alzina / Forta / Fortes / Llora blanca / Pebràs (catalan) – Rúsula blanca (spanish) –
Russula delica: Mushroom with a cap of 6 to 15 centimeters in diameter of dirty white to cream color, convex at first and then flat to finally acquire the shape of a funnel.
The margin is uniform, rolled downward and a little wavy. It is usually covered with soil and leaves that the mushroom itself has removed to get out.
It is very common and can be found in summer if there is abundant rainfall.
Pebrás / Esclata-sang / Esclata-sang de murta / Esclata-sang de pi / Esclata-sang de xipell / Esclata-sang mascle / Pinatell / Rovelló (catalan) –
Lactarius sanguifluus: Lactarius sanguifluus has a cap 6 to 15 centimeters in diameter, at first convex with a rolled margin and then open, and sometimes funnel-shaped.
It has reddish orange to light reddish colorations with greenish spots that are not too large and usually has zonations in the form of concentric circles.
The lamellae are thin, tight, decurrent and variable in color from fleshy pink to reddish orange to wine-colored. The stem is cylindrical, attenuated at the base, hard and then hollow, reddish orange to wine-colored with intermediate shades.
It is the most sought after and consumed mushroom in Ibiza and considered the tastiest mushroom in the Balearic Islands.
Blaveta / Pimipinella morada (catalan) – Tricoloma violet (spanish) –
Lepista nuda: Mushroom of variable color but always within the violet tones. The cap measures 6 to 12 centimeters in diameter, first convex and then almost flat. The margin is rolled when young and often raised when old. The lamellae are thin and tight, easily detachable from the stem.
In the Balearic Islands there is no custom of consuming it, although every day more and more people know and appreciate it.
Bufa de bou / Bufa de jai / Bufa de jaia / Bufa de monja / Bufa del dimoni / Bufes / Esclatabufa piriforme / Fumoses / Pet de llop / Pets de moro (Catalan) – Bejín areolado / Cuesco de lobo (Castillian) –
Lycoperdon perlatum: globular or pear-shaped carpophores, 1 to 5 centimeters in diameter and about 6 centimeters high, gray-white or dirty white when adult.
On the external surface it has an ornamentation formed by small cream-colored, round or conical pearls that fall off at maturity leaving a mark.
The gleba is white in color that later turns into a brownish powder that escapes through the ostyle located at the top.
Edible only when young and the gleba is completely white.
Gírgola / Gírgola de carboner / Gírgola de garriga / Gírgola de marina / Gírgola de pi / Orellana (catalan) –
Hohenhuehelia geogenia: This mushroom is ear or shell shaped with the top of the cap open like a fan and the foot looking like a continuation of the cap, which can be totally eccentric or lateral.
The cap measures 5 to 14 centimeters in diameter, is gelatinous in wet weather, smooth, shiny with whitish spots and gray to dark brown in color.
The foot is somewhat lighter than the cap contrasting with the lamellae which are whitish-white and very decurrent.
Bolet / Pexigà / Xampinyó (Catalan) – Bola de nieve / Champiñón de prado / Champiñón silvestre / Pan de lobo (Castilian) –
Agaricus campestris: White, dirty white, pink or earth-colored mushroom, with a cap at first spherical, which then extends becoming convex and finally flat from 4 to 12 centimeters in diameter. The surface is smooth at first, but may present some scales with time. The lamellae are free, tight, pink at first, then turning to chocolate color, due to the color of the spores.
Patates de bosc (catalan) –
Rhizopogon luteorubescens: This mushroom produces semisubterranean carpophores in the shape of a small potato with the peridium formed by a skin that goes from golden yellow to dark brown, coppery if touched and presents some rhizomorphs on top. Peridium coppery violet when cut.
It is edible when young.
Bolet de bou / Bolet groc / Esclata-butzes / Esclata-sabates / Pixacà (catalan) –
Suillus collinitus: Mushroom with cap and foot. The cap is initially hemispherical, later convex ending flat, more or less dark brown. It is a little slimy in wet weather.
The foot is long, cylindrical and a little thick at the base, yellow on the upper part and with brown and reddish dots on the rest. It has yellow tubes in the same manner as the pores.
Only young specimens should be eaten, the old ones are usually attacked by larvae. It is a thermophilic species, which comes out mainly in not very humid years.
Brunets / Esteperol / Frarets / Fredolics / Fredolís / Fredolucs / Gírgola d’estepa / Grisets / Negrets/ Palometes (Catalan) – Mouse (Spanish) –
Tricholoma terreum: Mushroom with cap of 2 to 7 centimeters in diameter, first flared to become flat while retaining a small central mamelon. It is dark gray to almost black, darker towards the center.
The lamellae are fragile, sinuate, with many lamellae and whitish-grayish in color.
They come out when it starts to get cold.
It grows in very numerous groups. They can be consumed in stews, rice…. They are very tasty.
Toxic mushrooms
Toxic mushroomsXampinyó (catalan) –
Agaricus pseudopratensis: This white mushroom has a cap up to 9 centimeters in diameter, hemispherical and then flatter and somewhat sunken in the center.
The cap may turn yellow when handled. Underneath are the pinkish-white lamellae, which turn pink and finally chocolate brown with a whitish edge.
The short, curved foot bears a ring at the top with a rather marked margin.
A rare and toxic species that takes on a vinous coloration when the flesh of the stem is cut. It also has a very pronounced phenolic odor.
Xampinyó (Catalan) – Agárico amarilleante (Castilian) –
Agaricus xanthodermus: White mushroom that is characterized by changing color to yellow when touched and by the smell of gas it has. The cap, 4 to 15 cm in diameter, is globular at the beginning and then becomes flat. The lamellae are pink initially becoming chocolate brown, thin, tight and free. The stem, white, is cylindrical, uniform, wavy and 8 to 20 cm long. The ring is wide, persistent and has scales on the lower part.
Clitocybe dealbata
Mushroom with a cap 3-4 centimeters in diameter, convex or slightly flattened, white with some areas of ochre or grayish cream. When adult the margin is wavy. It has numerous white or cream colored, adherent, unequal lamellae and the stem is cylindrical, curved, narrower towards the base, white.
It is one of the most toxic mushrooms found in the islands, causing sweating intoxication. It is very common in Mallorca.
Galerina marginata
Mushroom with an amber-brown to reddish-brown cap, turning yellow when dry, 1 to 4 centimeters in diameter.
Beneath this are the brownish-yellow, dense, sinuate to straight adnate lamellae. The stem is cap-like in color with a poorly developed membranous ring.
Can cause fatal poisoning. Grows on dead wood, pine cones and stumps.
Inocybe rimosa
Mushroom with a central mamelon in the cap. This is quite fleshy, 3 to 8 centimeters in diameter, often with a wavy margin.
It has a cuticle covered with radial fibrils that crack at the same time as the cap. It is of variable colors, from straw yellow to honey yellow.
The lamellae are thin, ventrate, unequal and close together, pale yellow to greenish to ochre with a whiter edge. The foot is cylindrical, thickened at the base and covered by fibrils.
Esclata-sang bord / Esclata-sang de llet / Esclata-sang pelut / Peloses /Peludes (catalan) –
Lactarius tesquorum: Pink ochre mushroom with a small cap, with a very rolled and woolly margin. With time it opens and can measure up to 9 centimeters in diameter.
The center is not very hairy and contrasts with the margins that are very hairy. Under the cap we find very tight lamellae, with numerous pink to pinkish-cream lamellae. The foot is shorter than the diameter of the cap and attenuated at the base.
Lepiota cristata
This mushroom is characterized by its iron odor.
It has a cap up to 4 centimeters in diameter, first flared and with the margins attached to the foot, which eventually opens to end up flat.
It has a central disc of brownish brown to slightly coppery color dissociated towards the margins in the form of scales and forming concentric centers.
The cuticle exceeds the margin of the cap. The numerous lamellae are separate and are white turning yellowish cream with time.
The stem is thicker towards the base where it has a cottony mycelium with white rhizomorphs and all of it is white, turning flesh colored. It has a fugaceous membranous ring.
Lepiota rhodorrhiza
Mushroom with a cap up to 4 centimeters in diameter, first ovoid, then open to flat, with a wide central pinkish brown to coppery brown mamelon, dissociated outwards into small scales of the same color or darker.
The margin is whitish and has a scale-free portion. The numerous lamellae with lamellae are white and separate from the foot.
It should be rejected like all Lepiotae less than 10 centimeters in diameter, since they can be toxic, even fatal.
Mycena pura
It is one of the most common mycenae and variable in size and color.
It presents a cap 2 to 6 centimeters in diameter, convex and finally flat with a not too marked mammellon.
The coloration as is variable from lilaceous to bluish with margins striated by transparency in humid times. They are hygrophanous, i.e., typically darker when wetter. The lamellae are separate, broad, ventrate, with numerous lamellae and whitish lilac with the arista of the same color.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.