Species flashcards

Description

Cap: 4–12 cm across; hemispherical when young, later convex and finally flattened. Reddish-brown, chestnut-brown to dark ochre-brown, often with darker radial fibres; smooth, glossy and slimy when wet, with an easily removable skin.

Tubes and pores: Tubes pale yellow at first, later yellow to olive-yellow. Pores small and angular, browning when bruised.

Stem: 4–9 cm tall and 1–2 cm thick, cylindrical and tapering towards the base. Pale yellow above with rusty-brown granules; the base is characteristically pink from pink mycelium. No ring is present.

Flesh: Whitish-yellow to pale yellow, firm when young and softer with age. Sometimes pinkish at the stem base; odour mild and taste gentle.

Spores: Spore print ochre-brown to brownish olive; spores 8–10.5 × 3–4.5 µm, smooth and fusiform.

Occurrence: A warmth-loving mycorrhizal species associated with two-needle pines, especially Scots pine and black pine. It fruits in pine woodland and plantations on calcareous or basic soils from summer to late autumn.

Edibility: Edible, but only after thorough cooking. Removing the slimy cap skin may reduce individual intolerance reactions.

Lookalikes: Similar to the weeping bolete, which has white mycelium at the stem base and often exudes milky droplets from young pores. The slippery jack has a conspicuous whitish ring.

Note: The key identification feature is the pink mycelium at the base of the stem.

Species description: First described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1838; Otto Kuntze transferred it to Suillus in 1898.

Taxonomy

1. Phylum:Basidiomycota
2. Class:Agaricomycetes
3. Order:Boletales
4. Family:Suillaceae
5. Genus:Suillus