Solid

The solid-stemmed elite

M.Ya. Zerova places the forest's most prized species among the mushrooms with solid stems:

1. Porcini (Boletus edulis): The absolute benchmark of a solid stem. Whatever the mushroom's age, its stem always stays firm, white and hard in cross-section, like the flesh of an apple or a potato. No cavities at all! This is one of the reliable features that set it apart from some other Xerocomus boletes (whose stems can turn cottony).

2. Red-capped scaber stalk (Leccinum aurantiacum): Its stem is also perfectly solid, but unlike porcini it quickly turns blue or black when cut. It's so dense and fibrous that people often leave it out of soup (it can be tough).

3. Wood blewit (Lepista nuda): It has a sturdy, solid stem, violet in cross-section, that is never hollow (unlike many brittlegills).

Dangerous monoliths

David Arora reminds us that a solid stem is no sign of safety. The best-known poisonous genus has solid stems too:

- Amanitas (Amanita): The deadly death cap (Amanita phalloides), the fly agaric, the panther cap — all of them have handsome, straight, central and solid stems (when young and mature). Very old amanitas sometimes develop a cottony or loose zone in the middle of the stem, but they are never tubular and hollow like, say, parasols.