Boletus torosus    Fr. 



New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Agaricomycetidae/Boletales/Boletaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Boletales/Boletaceae/Boletoideae [ section:Luridi sub-section:Luridini]  

synonyms: Imperator torosus 

edibility : poisonous

potential confusions with  Boletus torosus toxicity of Boletus torosus genus Boletus  

The cap is olivaceous grey-yellow to bright yellow at first, then becoming vinaceous reddish-brown with age, with blue-black spots here and there, thick, fleshy, massive, bumpy or battered, hemispherical then convex to more or less flattened. The cap surface is felty then smooth. The cap margin is inrolled for a long time, remaining eventually curved.

The stem is sturdy, thick, full, short, tapering at its base, bright yellow especially at the top, and becoming red from the base up. A yellow network is present on stem, eventually becomiing reddish from the base up and turning blue when touched.

The flesh is thick, firm, very dense, yellow but turning instantly and strongly to blue-black when exposed to air then becoming reddish brown; its taste is mild to slightly acidic; the odour is weak, fruity;

The tubes are yellow, turning blue when exposed to air, short and slightly adnate.

The pores are narrow, lemon yellow then eventually reddish, turning blue instantly when pressed. The spore print is olive yellow.

It grows in broad-leaved (or sometimes mixed) forests, preferably in warmer climates, on a rather calcareous soil, essentially with beech, but also other deciduous trees and sometimes conifers.

The fruiting period takes place from June to September.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 14 cm (between 8 and 25 cm)
  height of stem approximately 10 cm (between 5 and 15 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 55 mm (between 40 and 70 mm)

Distinctive features : grey-yellow then reddish brown cap, slightly bumpy, with occasional blue-black spots; stem covered with a yellow then eventually red network; yellow then reddish pores, turning blue instantly when pressed; very dense and remarkably heavy mushroom; with beech

Boletus torosus is still unreported so far in the forest of Rambouillet, and is quite rare, more generally speaking .



page updated on 14/01/18