Boletus rubellus

Taxobox
name = Boletus rubellus

---

image_width = 200px
status = Rare in Britain
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Boletales
familia = Boletaceae
genus = "Boletus"
species = "B. rubellus"
binomial = "Boletus rubellus"
binomial_authority = Krombh.
synonyms = "Boletus versicolor" C. Martín
"Xerocomus rubellus" (Krombh.) Quel.mycomorphbox
name = Boletus rubellus
capShape = convex
capShape2=flat
hymeniumType=pores
stipeCharacter=bare
sporePrintColor=olive
sporePrintColor2=brown
howEdible= edible
howEdible2= caution

"Boletus rubellus" is a small, dainty, brightly coloured member of the "Boletus" genus, with a reddish cap and stipe, and yellow pores. Like many boletes, it stains blue when cut or bruised. It is found in deciduous woodland in autumn. There is some question over its edibility, and it is of poor quality with a taste of soap.

Taxonomy

" _la. Boletus rubellus" was one of the pored basidiomycetes to be placed in the genus "Xerocomus" in the past, and is still regarded as such in some texts.cite book |title=The Great Encyclopedia of Mushrooms |last=Lamaison |first=Jean-Louis |coauthors=Polese, Jean-Marie |year=2005 |publisher=Könemann |isbn=3-8331-1239-5|pages=p. 25] The previously commonly used binomial name "Boletus versicolor" (Rostk.), published in 1844, is now reduced to synonymy as it postdates the current name by German mycologist Julius Vincenz von Krombholz which dates from 1836. Its present specific epithet " _la. rubellus" is Latin for "somewhat red". [cite book|author = Simpson DP| title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd.| date = 1979|edition = 5|location = London|pages = 883| isbn=0-304-52257-0]

Description

This mushroom has a cap that is scarlet to raspberry red when young, with a dry velvety texture. The extreme margin often has a pale yellow or white band around it, (as in the photograph on the right) and it discolours darker, and dirtier with age. It is a small bolete, with the cap being rarely over convert|6|cm|in|abbr=off|lk=on in diameter.cite book | author = Roger Phillips | year = 2006 | title = Mushrooms | publisher = Pan MacMillan | isbn = 0330442376|pages=p. 282] The pores are small; pale yellow,cite book | author = Marcel Bon | year = 1987 | title = The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North Western Europe | publisher = Hodder and Stoughton | isbn = 034039935X] and bruise slowly. Sometimes tapering, the stem is slender and long, and may reach convert|7.5|cm|in|abbr=on|lk=off. It is lemon yellow at the apex, but red elsewhere, and has a tendency to split or sheer vertically. The flesh is straw-coloured in the cap, and stains slowly blue over the tubes when cut. The tubes and pores are large and lemon-yellow, and may be greenish tinged when older. The spore print is olive. It is pale yellow at the stem apex, and becomes vinaceous lower down. A key feature is presented upon vertically slicing through the "entire" stem, to reveal a clearly distinct brick-red or orange-coloured flesh in the very base of the stem. It smells pleasant, but indistinct, and is said to taste slightly soapy.

Conflicting information on pore size in notable publications is a possible indication that there may be more than one species involved, both in Britain and in North America.cite book |author=David Arora |year=1986 |title=Mushrooms Demystified |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=0898151694] [http://www.mushroomexpert.com/boletus_campestris.html "Boletus campestris"] is very similar, and [http://www.mushroomexpert.com/boletus_bicolor.html "Boletus bicolor"] is almost identical. Neither of these are reported in the British Isles. In Europe, this species is often mistaken for the all too similar "Boletus armeniacus" which, however, does not show the same red coloration in the stem base.

Distribution and habitat

Uncommon to rare in Southern England, occurring largely with oak ("Quercus"). It also appears in Europe, and the Eastern United States.

Edibility

It is not recommended as it is often maggoty, and may taste 'soapy'.

References