Tylopilus felleus    (Bull.:Fr.) P. Karst. 

common name(s) : Bitter Bolete 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Agaricomycetidae/Boletales/Boletaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Boletales/Boletaceae  

synonyms: Boletus felleus 

edibility : inedible

photo gallery of  Tylopilus felleus
photo gallery of  Tylopilus felleus potential confusions with  Tylopilus felleus toxicity of Tylopilus felleus genus Tylopilus  

The cap is pale brown, beige to buff, fleshy, thick, quite firm then soft, hemispherical, then convex and finally more or less flattened, or even depressed. The cap surface is finely downy in the youth, then smooth. It is matt and dry, sometimes creased in dry weather, and slightly viscid in damp conditions. The cap margin is inrolled, then often curved upwards and wavy.

The stem is thick, full, cylindrical but most often swollen at its base, often club-shaped in the youth. It is the same colour as the cap (ochre-yellow to yellowish brown), except for the apex which is brighter. It has a clearly visible network of brown and large cells, especially at the top of the stem..

The flesh is thick, soft, white, except under the cap surface, tinted with the colour of the cap, unchanging when exposed to air (ou turning pink very slightly); its taste is very bitter, rarely mild; the odour is non existent or weak and pleasant;

The tubes are thin, long (15-30mm), easily removed from cap, looking like beer foam. They are whitish then pink or coral, adhering to the stem when young, then separated from stem through a groove, and extending beyond the margin in adulthood..

The pores are small, round then angular, white then pink and eventually brown pink, turning to brown when pressed. The spore print is pink (single bolete species with this character).

It grows in woodlands of broad-leaved trees (sometimes with conifers), clearings, on a rather acid soil, with oak, beech, birch, spruce, pine.

The fruiting period takes place from May to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 10 cm (between 5 and 20 cm)
  height of stem approximately 10 cm (between 4 and 18 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 30 mm (between 10 and 60 mm)
  spores : 11-16 x 3-5 microns, spindle-shaped, smooth

Chemical tests : no reaction to ammonia.

Distinctive features : white pores, becoming pink, turning brown when pressed; bitter taste; raised brown network on stem; stem not stout, but rather club-shaped

Tylopilus felleus is occasional and widely present in the forest of Rambouillet, and is infrequent, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Tylopilus felleus in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Tylopilus felleus in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18