Royal boletus (Butyriboletus regius)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Boletales
- Family: Boletaceae
- Genus: Butyriboletus (Butyribolet)
- Species: Butyriboletus regius (Royal boletus)
Synonyms:
Boletus regius
Borovik royal (lat.Butyriboletus regius) is a mushroom of the genus Butyriboletus of the Boletaceae family. Previously, this species was attributed to the genus Borovik (Boletus).
Description
The cap of this mushroom has a bright pink, violet-red or rosy-red color, but the color usually fades with age. The skin is delicately fibrous, smooth, but sometimes whitish mesh cracks appear on it. The cap of young mushrooms is convex, and then it becomes cushion-shaped and in old mushrooms it can be completely flat, opening to a prostrate shape with a dent in the center. The size of the cap is from 6 to 15 cm in diameter.
The pulp is yellow in color, blue on the cut, has a dense structure and a pleasant mushroom taste and smell.
Leg up to 15 cm in height and up to 6 cm in thickness, yellowish-brown, thickened shape. There is a thin yellow mesh pattern at the top of the stem.
The hymenophore is tubular and free; there is a deep notch near the stem. The color of the tubular layer is greenish or yellowish. Tubules up to 2.5 cm long with rounded pores.
Spores are smooth, fusiform, 15x5 microns. The spore powder has a brown-olive color.
Spread
Boletus is found mainly in beech and other deciduous forests. In Russia, it is common in the Caucasus, and also rarely found in the Far East. This mushroom prefers sandy and calcareous soils. You can harvest this mushroom from June to September.
Food quality
A good edible boletus, which tastes very much like rooted boletus. Boletus royal has a fragrant and dense pulp, which is very highly valued. This mushroom can be consumed both freshly prepared and canned.
Similar species
Outwardly, the royal boletus resembles a related species - the beautiful boletus (Boletus speciosus), which has a red leg and a blue flesh.