It is very important for mushroom pickers to know “in-person” mushrooms that are common in the region of their residence. This is necessary in order not to bring an inedible or poisonous specimen from a “quiet hunt”, and also not to waste time gathering representatives of the mushroom kingdom with mediocre tastes. In the article you will find a detailed description of the pepper mushroom, which will allow you to recognize it among others.
Other name
Pepper mushroom has several titles: peppermint, peppermint. Scientifically, it is called Chalcíporus piperátus (Latin). Also, sometimes you can find his descriptions under the names of Boletus piperatus, Xerocomus piperatus. 
The mushroom belongs to the family of boletes, the genus Chalciporus. Sometimes it is referred to the genus Shrove. Hymenophore is tubular.
Did you know? Not so long ago, in 2000, a professor at Hokkaido University, Toshiyuki Nakagaki, published the results of his research in the field of mushrooms, where he argued that the mycelium is able to collect and systematize information about the environment, recognize its location in space and transmit this data to its "descendants". The scientist made such a sensational statement after his experiment, in which he trained the yellow mushroom to look for a sugar cube in a maze, usually used to define intelligence in mice.
Is it possible to eat
Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer to this question. Different sources contain conflicting information on this subject, identifying the fungus as conditionally edible, inedible, and even poisonous.
Check out the lists of common edible, conditionally edible, and poisonous mushrooms.
If you believe the numerous encyclopedias of the mushroom picker, then the poison in the pepper butter dish does not contain. By conventionally edible it is ranked because of the bitterness in the taste. However, there are sources that claim that his taste is not sharp, but pleasant, and the bitterness goes away after heat treatment. Therefore, this butterdish is advised to use as a spicy seasoning, replacing pepper. To make the dish sharp, pepper mushrooms are boiled and added as such or dried and ground into powder. According to reviews of people who cooked pepper mushroom, it tastes dried and fried. Also it is pickled and salted. 
In some Western and Russian sources devoted to the mushroom families, Chalcíporus piperátus is ranked as inedible and poisonous specimens. It is believed that its pulp contains toxic substances that are not removed by heat treatment and tend to accumulate in the human body. They provoke the destruction of the liver, can lead to cirrhosis and cancer. Symptoms of poisoning, as a rule, do not appear immediately after eating the fungus, but only after a few months. Therefore, it is difficult to prove precisely that the mushroom dish is the cause of a person’s poor health.
Note that most of the authors of the literature on the mushroom theme still tend to consider pepper butterdish conditionally edible. It does not lead to rapid poisoning or death.
Did you know? Fungi contain more minerals such as iron, phosphorus and calcium than in any meat. They are also 5-10 times more nicotinic acid (vitamin B3) than is found in herbs and vegetables.
How does it look
You can see the peppered mushroom in the photo. It is small in size and has a traditional appearance - a hat located on the stem. 
Hat
The cap in a diameter reaches sizes from 2 to 7 cm. It is painted in brown tones, it can include red, brown, rusty shades. It has a rounded convex shape. In the mature state, it straightens and becomes flat or flat-convex.
Perhaps the most famous mushroom of the Boletov family is the boletus. Both inedible and edible species of these fungi are known, for example white. Learn more about the properties and harvesting of white mushrooms.
The skin is dry, smooth, slightly velvety. Removing it from the cap is problematic. 
Pulp
The pulp of the fruit body is loose in consistency, in color - with a yellowish tinge. When cutting or fracture is usually painted in a reddish tint. To taste the flesh is hot. Her fragrance is mild. 
Tubular layer
The lower surface of the fruit body is covered with adherent tubular hymenophore, which falls on the leg. The tubes are filled with spore powder. In color they are identical with the color of the cap. When pressed, the tubular layer may change to a reddish color.
Important! Eating mushrooms are very hard for the human digestive system to digest. Therefore, they are not advised to eat late in the evening, and also to give to children under 5 years of age. Any mushrooms, before eating, should be boiled for at least 20 minutes.
Leg
The foot usually grows from 3 to 8 cm in height and from 3 to 15 mm in width. The shape resembles a cylinder, narrowed to the bottom. For some representatives, it has a slight bend. Its pulp is dense, breaks easily.
The color of the legs is in harmony with the head, sometimes it can get lighter shades. At the soil surface, the foot is colored yellow. There are no rings on the leg. 
Spore powder
Spore powder is colored yellow with brown or brown with rusty color. Spores have dimensions of 9.5 × 4.5 μm.
Edible types of bolt are Mohoviki, Tababki. But the satanic mushroom, considered to be poisonous, is used as a delicacy in some countries.
Growth and seasonality
Most often pepper mushroom comes across in coniferous forests, especially where there are a lot of pines, forming an association with them. Occasionally he also becomes an inhabitant of forest plantations with deciduous trees or among mixed plantings.
It is easy to meet him in the entire northern zone with a temperate climate - in Europe, the Caucasus, the Urals, and Siberia. He is also spotted on the island of Tasmania.
Pepper butterdish often prefers to grow alone, but sometimes it occurs in small groups of 3-4 copies.
The period of fructification falls on July - October. The mass appearance of fruit bodies is observed in August - September. 
What can be confused
Like most representatives of the mushroom kingdom, peppermint has twins, similar in appearance to it. These include mushrooms such as edible goat, some types of oil. 
Kozlyak The main difference from the listed species is the sharp taste, the reddish color of the hymenophore and the absence of a ring on the leg.
Important! If a person has consumed poisonous mushrooms, then he must be given first aid: to induce vomiting, flush the stomach and give to take activated charcoal (1-2 tablets per 1 kg of weight). The first signs of poisoning can occur in the period from 30 minutes to 18 hours.
Video: Pepper Mushroom
So, pepper mushroom is considered to be conditionally edible mushrooms because of its sharp taste. However, according to the testimony of the people who prepared it, the bitterness and sharpness disappear after heat treatment. In some sources, this fungus is even classified as poisonous - the authors claim that the harmful substance can accumulate in the human body and lead to destructive actions in relation to the liver. Nevertheless, convincing evidence of this assertion has not yet been presented.
