La poplar mushroom or poplar mushroom is one of the most common and consumed of all types. Its scientific name is Agrocybe cylindracea and it is one of the most demanded. You can find them throughout the year, as long as the humidity and temperature conditions allow it. It is one of the reasons why this mushroom is consumed by everyone. As a general rule, in order to find these mushrooms we must wait until the weather is warm and it has rained and cooled down a lot.
In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics of the poplar mushroom and how we should look for it.
Key features
It is one of the best edible mushrooms of all time and, therefore, it is quite common to find them in supermarkets throughout the year. It is also one of the most widely cultivated and widespread mushrooms, so even you can grow it in your own urban garden.
It has a subglobose cap that evolves into a convex shape as it develops. It has a more or less dark brown color as if it were a coffee with milk. As it matures and grows, the color lightens from the center of the hat to the perimeter, which is the area that varies the most. This can be a perfect indicator of the age of the fungus. The surface of the cuticle has a wrinkled texture and you can see some small cracks and there are no hairs.
If the environment is more reduced in humidity, both due to excess heat or cold, it can be seen how it cracks due to this lack of humidity. If it grows too fast it can crack in its growth. It has several sheets of creamy white color and that during the maturation of the spores to a pure cream color.
As for the foot, it has a cylindrical shape, it is quite long and full of fibers. It measures up to a length of 16 cm and a diameter of 1 centimeter. In the upper part of the foot we do not find a slightly darker brown color and the rest in a lighter cream color, almost white. It usually has a ring on the top that is quite resistant and the same color as the foot. This ring turns darker in color at maturity.
Its flesh is quite compact but fragile in the part of the hat. It is creamy white and darker at the base of the foot. When the specimen is young, it gives off a rather pleasant and characteristic smell as if it were fruity. As they mature and develop into adulthood, they give off a somewhat stronger scent. As for the taste, it is quite appreciated for being sweet and pleasant.
Ecology and distribution of the poplar mushroom
This mushroom usually develops in abundant aggregate fructifications. They can appear in almost any season of the year as long as the temperature and humidity are indicated. In fact, in the riverside poplar forests near the rivers we can find these mushrooms several times in just one season. It is only necessary that the set humidity and temperature conditions are met.
Normally, they tend to appear in greater proportion after a fairly abundant rain and a drop in temperatures. It has a fairly good edibility, and as usual, the young specimens are of higher quality than the more developed ones. It is convenient to remove the foot for consumption since it is too fibrous.
Its natural habitat is streams and more humid areas. They are saprophytic fungi that decompose in organic matter. They are able to decompose the wood of the trees that was recently dead. They are associated with these areas of dead wood of trees such as poplars, poplars, fig trees, elms, ash trees, etc. All these trees are almost always in areas with a higher degree of humidity or they are riverbank trees.
Possible confusions of the poplar mushroom
At first glance, we can identify this type of mushroom quite easily. We just have to locate these types of trees and look for the mushrooms at the base of the stumps. These mushrooms are medium or large in size but their growth is quite slow. This means that we do not see them too developed and waste it to collect it in time.
However, although they are fairly easy to recognize, you may see some confusions by determining characteristics. For example, it could be confused with the mushroom Hypholoma fasciculare which is toxic. The only way to easily differentiate it is that the latter prefers the wood of trees such as conifers. In addition, it has yellowish meat, a bitter taste and an unpleasant smell. The blades are not white, but sulfur yellow or yellowish green.
We can also confuse it with another species known as Agrocybe lasts. This mushroom is also edible, but it is a little more robust and with a slightly lobed foot. The colors are lighter and it is not toxic. Even if it has no problem of being consumed, its gastronomic quality is not comparable at all to that of the poplar mushroom.
This mushroom is quite easy to grow. It is quite likely the first mushroom that has been cultivated with a methodical system and on small scales. If we want to grow it in our urban garden, we must scrub a mature specimen on large pieces of damp wood. Later, we will maintain the necessary humidity and temperatures at a maximum of 20 degrees. We will have to water it continuously, preventing it from drying out. The infected substrate must also be isolated until fully invaded by the mycelium.
If all these variables are given at the moment, we can start producing mushrooms on our own. It is true that this is a rather simplified way of being able to grow this type of mushroom. If we want to do it in a more optimal way, we must opt for a more scientific method.
As you can see, the poplar mushroom is quite abundant and known all over the world. I hope this information lets you know more about the poplar mushroom.