Spring in Italy: time to looking for Hygrophorus marzuolus





Some info about Hygrophorus marzuolus (Fr.) Bresn:

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Fungi

Division: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Agaricales

Family: Hygrophoraceae

Genus: Hygrophorus

Species: Hygrophorus marzuolus

Binomial name: Hygrophorus marzuolus (Fr.) Bresn

Synonyms:

·         Agaricus marzuolus Fr. (1821)

·         Limacium camarophyllum subsp. marzuolum (Fr.) Herink (1949)

·         Clitocybe marzuolus (Fr.) Sacc. (1887)

Description

Hygrophorus marzuolus known in Italy by the common name of "Marzuolo" or "Dormiente", is a popular and edible species.

Cap: 3-10 (15) cm in diameter, at first with the hemispheric margin convoluted, then plan early and finally depressed with scalloped edge, uneven, lumpy due to the growth sunk into the ground. Gray in color, sometimes faded and mottled with lighter areas or whitish, rarely with shades of ocher, then leaden, blackish, thin cuticle, separated in a very partial manner, depending on the humidity, a little slippery or dry, non-translucent .

Hymenophore:

Gils sometimes slightly curved, slightly dense, thick, interspersed with small gils, white then gray and blackish also from the bottom, edge clearer.

Stalk: 5-8 × 2-4 cm, thick, firm and stout, cylindrical, more or less curved and irregular in shape, and white pruinose towards the apex, striated fibrils and elsewhere, it becomes more ashen at the bottom.

Meat: Abundant, hygrophanous, a little fibrous. Grayish white with shades under the cuticle and towards the edge of the hat. Low odor, sometimes unpleasant in mature specimens. Sweet and delicate flavor.

Habitat: It grows in groups in the mountains under conifers and in particular Spruce, Spruce and Pine. It can also be found in mixed forests, with the presence of Spruce (Picea Abies) and/or Pine (Pinus nigra) along with oak, chestnut (Castanea stativa) and beech trees, rarely even under sun hardwoods. The period of growth,  end of winter, when the snow starts to melting until the end of May.  Exceptionally we can find it in the Autumn season, when climatic conditions are the optimal, usually first its grows in the mountains and later in the lower areas and temperate. It posiible harvers in limited sites of the entire peninsula but its usually abundant and always present in the sites .

Edibility: It is generally one of the best edible italian species, highly regarded and sought after, and his precocity, the fragrant and never cloying flavor of its flesh is firm and compact, make Marzuolo one of the best mushrooms and even more versatile from a gastronomic point of view.

This video show how is possible harvest this amazing mushroom species typical of the beginning of spring. My friend Antonio from Florence is walking in the forest with a lot of snow looking for these amazing mushrooms.

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