Boletus

Taxobox
name = "Bolete"


image_width = 200px
image_caption = "Boletus edulis"
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Boletales
familia = Boletaceae
genus = "Boletus"
genus_authority = Fr.
type_species = "Boletus edulis"
diversity = over 100 species
diversity_link = List of bolete species

"Boletus" is a genus of mushroom, comprising over 100 species. The genus "Boletus" was originally broadly defined and described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1821, essentially containing all fungi with pores. Since then, gradually other genera have been defined, such as "Tylopilus" by Petter Adolf Karsten in 1881, and old names such as "Leccinum" resurrected or redefined.

Some mushrooms listed in older books as members of the genus have now been placed in separate genera. These include such as "Boletus scaber", now "Leccinum scabrum", "Tylopilus felleus", "Chalciporus piperatus" and "Suillus luteus".

The name is derived from the Latin term "Bōlētus" 'mushroom' from the Ancient Greek βωλιτης, [cite book | last = Simpson | first = D.P. | title = Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher = Cassell Ltd. | date = 1979 | edition = 5 | location = London | pages = 883 | id = ISBN 0-304-52257-0] ultimately from "bōlos"/βωλος 'lump' or 'clod'.cite book | author = Liddell, Henry George and Robert Scott | year = 1980 | title = A Greek-English Lexicon (Abridged Edition) | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = United Kingdom | id = ISBN 0-19-910207-4] However, the βωλιτης of Galen is thought to have been the much prized "Amanita caesarea".cite book | author = Ramsbottom J | year = 1953 | title = Mushrooms & Toadstools |pages=p. 6 | publisher = Collins | id = ISBN 1870630092]

Edibility

The genus "Boletus" contains many members which are edible and tasty, not the least of which is the famed "Boletus edulis", though many others are eaten as well, such as "B. badius", "B. aereus" and others. Many species, such as "B. calopus", are bitter tasting and inedible.

Several guidebooks recommend avoiding all red-pored boletes, however both "B. erythropus" and "B. luridus" are edible when well-cooked. However, there has been one recorded instance of death from "Boletus pulcherrimus" in 1994; a couple developed gastrointestinal symptoms after eating this fungus with the husband succumbing. Autopsy revealed infarction of the midgut.cite journal |author=Benjamin DR |title=Red-pored boletes |pages=359–360 in: cite book |title=Mushrooms: poisons and panaceas — a handbook for naturalists, mycologists and physicians |publisher=New York: WH Freeman and Company |year=1995] "Boletus satanas" has also long considered to be poisonous, though it has not been responsible for any deaths. The symptoms are predominantly gastrointestinal in nature. A glycoprotein, bolesatine, has been isolated. A similar compound bolevenine has been isolated from the poisonous "Boletus venenatus" of Japan. [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TH7-4MWPV8W-1&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=bc2a5ba38d345ff73cfb06e3de3571f0]

Muscarine has been isolated from some red-pored species, although the amounts are pharmacologically insignificant and unlikely to cause symptoms.

References