Beautifully colored boletus (Suillellus pulchrotinctus)
Systematics:- Department: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Agaricomycetidae (Agaricomycetes)
- Order: Boletales
- Family: Boletaceae
- Genus: Suillellus (Suillellus)
- Species: Suillellus pulchrotinctus (Boletus beautifully colored)
Synonyms:
- Beautifully painted bolette
- Boletus pulchrotinctus
- Rubroboletus pulchrotinctus
Description
Hat: 6 to 15 cm in diameter, although it may exceed these dimensions, hemispherical at first, gradually smoothing as the mushroom grows. The skin is tightly attached to the flesh and is difficult to separate, slightly fleecy in young specimens and smoother in mature specimens. The color ranges from creamy, paler towards the center, to pink shades typical of this species, very noticeable towards the edge of the cap.
Hymenophore: thin tubes up to 25 mm long, adherent in young mushrooms and semi-free in the most mature ones, easily separated from the pulp, from yellow to olive green. Turn blue when touched. The pores are small, rounded at first, deformed with age, yellow, with orange tints towards the center. When rubbed, they turn blue as well as tubes.
Leg: 5-12 x 3-5 cm dense and firm. In young specimens, it is short and thick, later becoming longer and thinner. At the base it tapers downward. It has the same tones as the hat (more yellowish in less mature specimens), with the same pink hues, usually in the middle zone, although this may vary. On the surface, it has a fine, narrow mesh that extends to at least the upper two-thirds.
Pulp: firm and compact, which distinguishes this species with a significant specific gravity in relation to other species of the same genus, even in adult specimens. In sheer yellow or cream shades that change to light blue on cut, especially around the tubes. The youngest specimens have a fruity smell that becomes more unpleasant as the fungus grows.
Proliferation
It mainly establishes mycorrhiza with beech trees that grow on limestone soils, especially with the Portuguese oak in the southern regions ( Quercus faginea ), although it is also associated with rock oak ( Quercus petraea ) and English oak ( Quercus robur ), which prefer siliceous soils. It grows from late summer to late autumn. Thermophilic species associated with warm regions, especially common in the Mediterranean.
Edibility
Poisonous when raw. Edible, low to medium quality when cooked or dried. Unpopular for consumption due to its rarity and toxicity.
Similar species
Due to the described properties, it is difficult to confuse it with other species. Only Suillellus fechtneri shows a more pronounced resemblance due to the pink tones that appear on the peduncle but are absent on the cap. In color, it may still be similar to Rubroboletus Lupinus , but it has orange-red pores and there is no mesh on the stem.