Today I mainly write about: Cangshan's Slippery Jack
Incl. Pine Slippery Jack, and several other mushrooms with similar texture: Amber Bolete, Dotted Stalk Slippery Jack, Brown Ring Slippery Jack.
The so-called Suillus genus means they all taste slippery and have slime on the cap surface after rain.
Every year, the earliest mushrooms to grow on Cangshan and the latest to end are the Slippery Jacks; I feel their growth is the strongest.
My hometown is in Hunan, where there are very few types of mountain mushrooms. Pine Slippery Jack is one of the few wild mushrooms I've picked and eaten since childhood. But why am I calling it a "poisonous" mushroom now? Actually, I don't want to call it a "poisonous mushroom," but because it is a controversial mushroom—some sources say it is poisonous, others say it is edible. So can it be eaten or not? I really want to figure it out.
The controversial poisonous "Pine Slippery Jack" and the non-poisonous "Sticky Cap Slippery Jack" look exactly the same. However, some sources say that what grows in Yunnan and Hunan is not Sticky Cap Slippery Jack—Sticky Cap Slippery Jack only grows in northern China. But these two different mushrooms cannot be distinguished by appearance or characteristics.
Unfortunately, I haven't picked mushrooms in the north yet. I really want to go and pick a so-called genuine Sticky Cap Slippery Jack to observe the differences.
Sticky Cap Slippery Jack
Sticky Cap Slippery Jack (internet image)
Pine (Small) Slippery Jack
Pine Slippery Jack (photos taken by Mushroom Elf at Cangshan)
Very mini when young
Sometimes chubby
Stem sometimes long, sometimes short.
Sometimes has a white ring on the edge
Pores small when young, larger when mature.
Worms like to eat it
The older it gets, the more worms like it
Often grows together with Red Nail Mushroom (the middle one is Red Nail Mushroom)
Turns liver red after stir-frying or boiling
Below is a brief introduction to a few other Suillus species we can pick on Cangshan.
Dotted Stalk Slippery Jack
Very similar to Amber Bolete, the difference is that this one has dots on the stem.
Has gastroenteritis toxicity; locals also dry it and eat it.
Amber Bolete
Different from Dotted Stalk Slippery Jack in that its stem has no black dots. Also, this mushroom sometimes exudes latex from the cap and stem. Non-toxic, but some people get diarrhea after eating it.
👆 Left is Amber Bolete, right is Dotted Stalk Slippery Jack.
Brown Ring Slippery Jack
When mature, it looks like Dotted Stalk Slippery Jack; the cap surface can be peeled. The difference is that this one has an inner veil when young, which falls off when mature. Like Dotted Stalk Slippery Jack, it has gastroenteritis toxicity.
In Europe, some people also peel off the sticky cap before eating, as if that prevents diarrhea.
Okay, see you next time!
