| Leccinum variicolor Watling |
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common name(s) : Mottled Bolete, Grey Birch Bolete
synonyms: Leccinum oxydabile, Krombholzia oxydabilis
edibility : edible
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The cap is with a wide range of colours, but always with greyish tones: mouse-grey, grey-brown to grey-black (soot), fleshy, initially firm then spongy, of hemispherical shape at the beginning, then convex to flat. The cap surface is felty and dry, then smooth and slightly sticky. The stem is full, long and firm to tough, rough because of the small scales covering it. The stem's surface background colour is whitish, the scales on the stem being grey to black, becoming blue-grey when touched. The scales are sometimes arranged as a kind of network.. The flesh is thick, white, turning pink in the upper half when in contact with air. It becomes however green-blue to blue (South Seas blue) in the stem base; its taste is faint and mild; the odour is weak and pleasant; The tubes are white or pale cream, turning pink when cut and exposed to air. The pores are small, round, white then ochre, turning red when pressed. The spore print is cinnamon-brown to tobacco-brown. It grows in broad-leaved woods, in damp places, with birch. The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Chemical tests : The flesh becomes : green when in contact with iron sulphate, pink when in contact with formaldehyde. Distinctive features : tough stem covered with small black scales; white pores; flesh tuning pink when exposed to air, except stem base turning blue; with birch Leccinum variicolor is quite rare and scattered in the forest of Rambouillet, and is occasional, more generally speaking . | ||
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page updated on 14/01/18