Species flashcards

Description

Cap: 6–20 cm across; hemispherical when young, then convex to flattened. Pale to hazel-brown, matt and finely velvety, often cracking in dry weather.

Tubes and pores: Fine pores, whitish at first, later yellow and olive-green in age.

Stem: 5–15 cm tall and 2–5 cm thick, stout, pale to hazel-brown, with a conspicuous pale reticulation usually extending over much of the stem.

Flesh: White, firm, unchanging when cut, with a pleasant mushroom aroma and a mild, nutty flavour.

Spores: Spore print olive-brown; spores 13–15 × 4–5.5 µm, fusiform.

Occurrence: A mycorrhizal species, chiefly in broadleaf woodland, especially with oak, beech, hornbeam and sweet chestnut; from early summer into autumn.

Edibility: An excellent edible mushroom.

Lookalikes: May be confused with other porcini species or the inedible bitter bolete (Tylopilus felleus).

Note: The epithet reticulatus refers to the prominent net-like pattern on the stem.

Species description: First described by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774.

Taxonomy

1. PhylumBasidiomycota
2. ClassAgaricomycetes
3. OrderBoletales
4. FamilyBoletaceae
5. GenusBoletus

• Species: Boletus reticulatus
• Authority: Jacob Christian Schäffer (1774)
• English name: Summer bolete
• Ecological status: mycorrhizal
• Edibility: edible