Hygrophorus marzuolus

The fruiting bodies of the March Schneck compact ( Hygrophorus marzuolus ) developed under the needle layer.

The March Schneck Ling, Märzellerling or snow fungus ( Hygrophorus marzuolus ) is a type of fungus that appears very early in the year from the family of Schneck Ling relatives. He is considered a good edible mushroom and is hardly confused despite its variable appearance alone because of its early appearance.

Features

The Märzellerling is a handsome fungus with up to 15 cm cap diameter. But most of the examples are much smaller and have cap diameter 5 to 10 cm. In young specimens the hat is mostly dark slate gray, arched and regularly rolled täublingsartig on the edge. Older specimens have almost always torn, curled, or at least irregular hat shapes. The colors vary greatly and are unevenly distributed. The base color is a dark slate gray, in the large white regions, greenish-gray, gray-brown and almost black regions are included. Also, almost white specimens are not uncommon. The hat surface is mostly dry, but in any case never greasy, slimy like other Schneck Lingen.

The slats are wide standing, waxy and almost always forked. They do not run or only slightly down on the stem and the peduncle are wide or slightly sinuate grown. In young specimens of their color is whitish, later outweigh very light grays.

The compact, solid stem is also initially grayish white thickened later with brown or gray color characters to Hutansatz back and often the stem base towards clavate. In young mushrooms he is mostly just turned, and later curved and often very thick, so the hat to stem diameter surmounted only slightly. In older specimens it is often torn fibrous.

Artabgrenzung

The March Schneck Ling is hardly to be confused by his early appearance with other blades fungi. Quite similar and closely related is the Grey-brown worm Ling ( Hygrophorus camarophyllus ). He is an autumn mushroom. It is a great and rare Schneck Ling with striking contrast of rußbraunem hat and whitish, running down on a stick blades, which can be found in mountain forests nobility.

Ecology and phenology

The fungus likes loose, humus-rich, fresh, slightly acidic to slightly alkaline, relatively nutrient-poor and mostly sandy soils on marls, gravels and base- rich silicate rock. Directly above lime and lean silicates, it occurs only rarely.

The fruiting bodies appear immediately after snowmelt mainly in the hilly and mountainous country. In very mild winters, the first mushrooms can be found as early as January. Usually, however, the temporal focus of the show is only in the second half of March to early April. The fruiting bodies break usually tufted as already completely developed fruiting bodies from under the snow, moss or litter.

Dissemination

March Hygrophorus come in western North America (USA Idaho), North Africa (Morocco) and in Europe. In Morocco, you will find the worm Ling in the Rif mountains under the cedars. In Europe the species is very patchy spread in many regions it is missing altogether. It occurs in the eastern Pyrenees within the Alps and the Carpathians and in a smaller enclave. This distribution corresponds closely to the area of ​​distribution of silver fir. The Schneck Ling was in Italy ( Apennines and northern Italy), Slovenia, rarely detected in Serbia and Romania, Spain, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Czech Republic and rare in Slovakia. The focal points of its occurrence are located in eastern Austria and especially in Slovenia. There is also evidence from the Republic of Macedonia and Greece.

The northern distribution limit runs through the middle of Germany. The main distribution area is located here in Baden -Württemberg in the southern Black Forest, but also in Bavaria and Thuringia the Schneck Ling can be found. Scattered finds there is in North Rhine- Westphalia, Saxony and Saxony- Anhalt. On the Red List of Germany, the critically endangered species is listed in the hazard category RL2.

Importance

The March Schneck Ling is considered a good edible mushroom, the mushroom is suitable for all cooking methods. Its very early occurrences in an otherwise almost mushroom -less season makes it particularly desirable for many mushroom lovers. Maybe that's why even be in taste value is sometimes overestimated. The fungi are often difficult to detect, as they develop under deciduous or evergreen layer. Experienced viewfinder recognize Märzellerlingsstandorte to the slightly raised needle - moss or Laubhügelchen. But one has only once discovered a fungus, you can usually look forward to a rich harvest, as the fruiting bodies are almost always in colonies together. Also fungal residues may indicate an occurrence since March Hygrophorus will happily eaten by squirrels and mice. As the fungus in Germany is very rare and protected, it should be preserved as a rarity.