Rosso coralRamaria botrytis

Yes — and that's the main caution with the whole genus. The defining features of the edible R. botrytis: (1) pinkish-wine tips on pale cream branches; (2) a dense, compact, rounded shape; (3) a thick white base; (4) flesh that doesn't darken when damaged; (5) a pleasant fruity smell. If the cluster is lacy with thin yellow branches, it's R. stricta or R. flava (better leave it). If it's salmon-orange, it's R. formosa (laxative). If the flesh darkens when pressed, it's definitely not our mushroom.

Older ones get tough — they become fibrous, slightly bitter, with a stronger laxative effect. The flesh of an old one is no longer white but cream-yellow, and the tips lose their pink color. The classic test: press with your fingernail — in a young one the flesh is springy, in an old one brittle or fibrous. Only take clusters with distinctly pink tips and a firm white base.

Before cooking — break it into branchlets and wash thoroughly (bark, pine needles and ants often hide between the "fingers"). Boil for 10 min, discard the water — that's your basic insurance against the laxative effect. Then fry it with onions, stew it in cream, add it to soups. The flesh is tender and resembles cauliflower. Pickling — holds its shape well. Drying — works less well, the flesh turns glassy when rehydrated.

In old beech, oak and fir forests on limestone or neutral bedrock. On the forest floor among moss, near old trees. It loves shady, damp spots with a thick layer of humus. It often grows singly or in groups of 2-3 clusters.

Mostly in the Carpathians and Prykarpattia (beech and fir forests), in the west of Podillia, and less often in Polissia and the forest-steppe — in old oak and beech woodlands on limestone.

August — October, peaking in September. It loves a warm autumn with moderate rain. After the first autumn rains, it comes up in masses.

Other coral mushrooms. R. botrytis — a compact cluster with a thick base and pink tips; R. flava — lacier, with yellowish branches, also edible when young, but causes diarrhea more often; R. stricta (upright coral) — thin, straight, yellow-brown branches, inedible; R. formosa (salmon coral) — salmon-orange, laxative; Clavulina coralloides — a small white cluster without pink tips.

Yes — but carefully, and only with confident identification. It's a tasty and beautiful mushroom, prized in Europe on a par with porcini. But because it resembles several laxative relatives, get to know it under the guidance of an experienced forager, not on your own from photos on the internet.