Bolete

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A bolete, Boletus edulis, showing the solid looking, spongy bottom surface, with is the defining characteristic of boletes. Boletus edulis EtgHollande 041031 091.jpg
A bolete, Boletus edulis, showing the solid looking, spongy bottom surface, with is the defining characteristic of boletes.

A bolete is a type of mushroom, or fungal fruiting body. It can be identified thanks to a unique mushroom cap. The cap is clearly different from the stem. On the underside of the cap there is usually a spongy surface with pores, instead of the gills typical of mushrooms. However, there are some boletes that are gilled, such as species of Chroogomphus , Gomphidius , Paxillus , Phylloporus and Hygrophoropsis aurantiaca .

"Bolete" is the English common name for fungus species whose mushroom caps have this appearance.

The boletes are classified in the order Boletales. Not all members of the order Boletales are boletes. The micromorphology and molecular phylogeny of the order Boletales have established that it also contains many gilled, puffball, and other fruit body shapes. A similar pore surface is found in polypores, but these species generally have a different physical structure from boletes, and have different microscopic characteristics than boletes. Many polypores have much firmer, often woody, flesh.

Boletes are susceptible to infection by the fungus Hypomyces chrysospermus, also known as the bolete eater .

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Mushroom Spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus

A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. Toadstool generally denotes one poisonous to humans.

Agaricales Order of mushrooms

The fungal order Agaricales, also known as gilled mushrooms or euagarics, contains some of the most familiar types of mushrooms. The order has 33 extant families, 413 genera, and over 13,000 described species, along with six extinct genera known only from the fossil record. They range from the ubiquitous common mushroom to the deadly destroying angel and the hallucinogenic fly agaric to the bioluminescent jack-o-lantern mushroom.

Boletales Order of fungi

The Boletales are an order of Agaricomycetes containing over 1300 species with a diverse array of fruiting body types. The boletes are the best known members of this group, and until recently, the Boletales were thought to only contain boletes. The Boletales are now known to contain distinct groups of agarics, gasteromycetes, and other fruiting-body types.

Polypore Group of fungi

Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside. They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polypores are closely related to each other. Polypores are also called bracket fungi or shelf fungi, and they characteristically produce woody, shelf- or bracket-shaped or occasionally circular fruiting bodies that are called conks.

The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some cells develop into sterile cells called cystidia (basidiomycetes) or paraphyses (ascomycetes). Cystidia are often important for microscopic identification. The subhymenium consists of the supportive hyphae from which the cells of the hymenium grow, beneath which is the hymenophoral trama, the hyphae that make up the mass of the hymenophore.

Basidiocarp Fungal structure

In fungi, a basidiocarp, basidiome, or basidioma (pl. basidiomata) is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne. Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures. As with other sporocarps, epigeous (above-ground) basidiocarps that are visible to the naked eye are commonly referred to as mushrooms, while hypogeous (underground) basidiocarps are usually called false truffles.

Pileus (mycology) Mushroom cap

The pileus is the technical name for the cap, or cap-like part, of a basidiocarp or ascocarp that supports a spore-bearing surface, the hymenium. The hymenium (hymenophore) may consist of lamellae, tubes, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus. A pileus is characteristic of agarics, boletes, some polypores, tooth fungi, and some ascomycetes.

<i>Tylopilus felleus</i> Species of fungus

Tylopilus felleus, commonly known as the bitter bolete or the bitter tylopilus, is a fungus of the bolete family. Its distribution includes east Asia, Europe and eastern North America, extending south into Mexico and Central America. A mycorrhizal species, it grows in deciduous and coniferous woodland, often fruiting under beech and oak. Its fruit bodies have convex to flat caps that are some shade of brown, buff or tan and typically measure up to 15 cm (6 in) in diameter. The pore surface is initially white before turning pinkish with age. Like most boletes it lacks a ring and it may be distinguished from Boletus edulis and other similar species by its unusual pink pores and the prominent dark-brown net-like pattern on its stalk.

<i>Gyrodon lividus</i> Species of fungus

Gyrodon lividus, commonly known as the alder bolete, is a pored mushroom bearing close affinity to the genus Paxillus. Although found predominantly in Europe, where it grows in a mycorrhizal association with alder, it has also recorded from China, Japan and California. Fruit bodies are distinguished from other boletes by decurrent bright yellow pores that turn blue-grey on bruising. G. lividus mushrooms are edible.

<i>Xerocomus subtomentosus</i> Species of fungus

Xerocomus subtomentosus, commonly known as suede bolete, brown and yellow bolet, boring brown bolete or yellow-cracked bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. The fungus was initially described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 and known for many years as Boletus subtomentosus. It is edible, though not as highly regarded as other bolete mushrooms.

Exsudoporus frostii Species of fungus in the family Boletaceae found in North America

Butyriboletus frostii, commonly known as Frost's bolete or the apple bolete, is a bolete fungus first described scientifically in 1874. A member of the family Boletaceae, the mushrooms produced by the fungus have tubes and pores instead of gills on the underside of their caps. Butyriboletus frostii is distributed in the eastern United States from Maine to Georgia, and in the southwest from Arizona extending south to Mexico and Costa Rica. A mycorrhizal species, its fruit bodies are typically found growing near hardwood trees, especially oak.

<i>Aureoboletus mirabilis</i> Species of fungus

Aureoboletus mirabilis, commonly known as the admirable bolete, the bragger's bolete, and the velvet top, is an edible species of fungus in the Boletaceae mushroom family. The fruit body has several characteristics with which it may be identified: a dark reddish-brown cap; yellow to greenish-yellow pores on the undersurface of the cap; and a reddish-brown stem with long narrow reticulations. Aureoboletus mirabilis is found in coniferous forests along the Pacific Coast of North America, and in Asia. Unusual for boletes, A. mirabilis sometimes appears to fruit on the wood or woody debris of Hemlock, suggesting a saprobic lifestyle. Despite occasional appearances to the contrary, Aureoboletus mirabilis is mycorrhizal, and forms close mutualistic associations with hemlock roots.

<i>Gyroporus cyanescens</i> Species of fungus

Gyroporus cyanescens, commonly known as the bluing bolete or the cornflower bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Gyroporaceae. First described from France in 1788, the species is found in Asia, Australia, Europe, and eastern North America, where it grows on the ground in coniferous and mixed forests.

<i>Butyriboletus regius</i> Species of fungus

Butyriboletus regius, commonly known as the royal bolete or red-capped butter bolete, is a basidiomycete fungus of the genus Boletus found in China and Europe. B. regius has a pink cap, yellow flesh, and a reticulate pattern on the stem. Harry D. Thiers described a similar mushroom from California as B. regius, though it is not the same species. B. regius in Europe does not stain when exposed to air, or stains weakly, but the California species stains blue. Both European and California species are considered choice edibles.

<i>Spongiforma</i> Genus of fungi

Spongiforma is a genus of sponge-like fungi in the family Boletaceae. Newly described in 2009, the genus contains two species: S. thailandica and S. squarepantsii. The type species S. thailandica is known only from Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand, where it grows in soil in old-growth forests dominated by dipterocarp trees. The rubbery fruit bodies, which has a strong odour of coal-tar similar to Tricholoma sulphureum, consists of numerous internal cavities lined with spore-producing tissue. S. squarepantsii, described as new to science in 2011, is found in Malaysia. It produces sponge-like, rubbery orange fruit bodies with a fruity or musky odour. These fruit bodies will—like a sponge—resume their original shape if water is squeezed out. The origin of the specific name derives from its perceived resemblance to the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. Apart from differences in distribution, S. squarepantsii differs from S. thailandica in its colour, odour, and spore structure.

<i>Xerocomus illudens</i>

Xerocomus illudens is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. Described as new to science in 1898, it is found in Asia and North America, where it grows in a mycorrhizal association with oak.

<i>Aureoboletus projectellus</i> Species of fungus

Aureoboletus projectellus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. Found in North America, and recently in Europe, it grows in a mycorrhizal association with pine trees.

<i>Boletinellus merulioides</i> Species of fungus

Boletinellus merulioides, commonly known as the ash-tree bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletinellaceae. Described as new to science in 1832, it is found in Asia and eastern North America, where it grows on the ground near ash trees.

<i>Imperator torosus</i> Species of fungus

Imperator torosus, commonly known as the brawny bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is native to southern Europe east to the Caucasus and Israel. It is generally associated with deciduous trees such as hornbeam, oak and beech in warm, dry locales. Although generally rare in Europe, it appears to be relatively common in Hungary. Appearing in summer and autumn on chalky soils, the stocky fruit bodies have an ochre cap up to 20 cm (8 in) across, yellow pores on the cap underside, and a wine-red to brown or blackish stipe up to 6–15 cm (2.4–5.9 in) long by 3–6 cm (1.2–2.4 in) wide. The pale yellow flesh changes to different colours when broken or bruised depending on age; younger mushrooms become reddish, and older ones additionally take on bluish tones.

<i>Hemileccinum impolitum</i> Species of fungus

Hemileccinum impolitum is a basidiomycete fungus of the family Boletaceae, native to Europe. It is commonly referred to as the iodine bolete, because its fruit bodies tend to emit an iodine odour when cut, more detectable in the stem base or overripe specimens.