BOLETUS QUELETII Schulzer

Description:

Pileus up to 9 cm, convex to flat-convex, velvety to smooth, bright yellow, olivaceous yellow, yellowish orange, orange, orange red to red or vinaceous red, in places discolouring, blueing when bruised. Stipe cylindrical or club-shaped, sometimes rooting, pale yellow to yellow, covered with fine pale orange, orange, reddish orange or pale red granules, in the base vinaceous red; stipe surface blueing when bruised. Flesh pale yellow to lemon yellow, vinaceous red to vinaceous brown in the stipe base, bleuing when exposed to air. Tubes pale yellow to yellow with olivaceous tint, blueing when injured. Pores red to orange red or orange, blueing when bruised. Smell not distinctive. Taste not distinctive. Spores 9–14 × 4.5–7 μm, ratio 1.5–2.6. Pileipellis (the cap cuticle) a trichoderm, composed of hyphae of cylindrical cells. Chemical reactions: hyphae of the flesh in the stipe base amyloid in Melzer’s reagent. Distribution. In Europe widespread but apparently more common in south. Similarity. Slightly similar to Boletus luridiformis, but distinguished by the presence of vinaceous red flesh in the stipe base, as well by its shorter spores with different length/width ratio. Rarely Boletus queletii may show blurred network-like pattern on the stipe and then it resembles Boletus luridus. In those cases Boletus queletii is recognized by the yellow flesh (not orange or red) when the tubes are removed.

Habitat:

Habitat. Warm broadleaf forests, mycorrhizal with oaks (Quercus), rarely also with hornbeam (Carpinus), hazel (Coryllus), beech (Fagus) or birch (Betula).