Pine Boletus (Leccinum vulpinum)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Boletales
- Family: Boletaceae
- Genus: Leccinum (Obabok)
- Species: Leccinum vulpinum (pine boletus)
Hat:
The pine boletus has a red-brown cap, a characteristic unnatural “dark crimson” color, which is especially evident in adult mushrooms. In young specimens, the cap is worn flush on the leg; it naturally opens up with age, acquiring a hammered cushion shape. As with the base model, the size of the hat can be very large, 8-15 cm in diameter (in a good year, you can find a hat and larger). The skin is velvety, dry. Dense white flesh without a special smell and taste on the cut quickly turns blue, then blackens. A characteristic feature - as in the oak variety of the boletus (Leccinum quercinum), the pulp can darken in places without waiting for the cut.
Spore-bearing layer:
In youth, it is white, then grayish-cream, when pressed, it turns red.
Spore powder:
Yellow-brown.
Leg:
Up to 15 cm long, up to 5 cm in diameter, solid, cylindrical, thickened towards the bottom, white, sometimes greenish at the base, deeply sinking into the ground, covered with longitudinal fibrous brown scales, making it velvety to the touch.
Spread:
Pine boletus occurs from June to early October in coniferous and mixed forests, forming mycorrhiza strictly with pine. It bears fruit especially abundantly (and looks spectacular) in mosses. There are very different information about the prevalence of this type of information: someone claims that Leccinum vulpinum is much less common than red boletus (Leccinum aurantiacum), someone, on the contrary, believes that there are quite a lot of pine boletus in the season too, just when collection is not always distinguished from the basic variety.
Similar species:
There is no consensus on whether it is worth considering Leccinum vulpinum (as well as the oak (Leccinum quercinum) and spruce (Leccinum peccinum), which are inextricably linked with it), a separate species, or are they still subspecies of the red aspen (Leccinum aurantiacum). So, we will consider how interesting it is: we will arrange the pine redhead as a separate species.In fact, the characteristic red-brown (apolitical) color, brown scales on the leg, dark gray spots, clearly visible when cut, and most importantly, pine is more than a satisfactory set of characteristics for describing a species, and many fungi do not have this either.
Edibility:
Yes, I guess.
Remarks
In our trampled lands, boletus has become a rare catch. And to find a rare boletus, such as pine, is a doubly joyful event. Handsome, eh?
And here's what else is interesting. Everyone knows: as soon as you touch the boletus, it immediately changes color. And this no longer surprises anyone. But if, say, a boletus eats some snail or other representative of the forest fauna, a mushroom, nothing will happen. They bit on the leg, and what? As she was white, she remained. I cannot explain this.