The Boletaceae are a family of mushroom-forming fungi, primarily characterised by small pores on the spore-bearing hymenial surface, instead of gills as are found in most agarics. Nearly as widely distributed as the agarics, the family is renowned for hosting some prime edible species highly sought after by mushroom hunters worldwide, such as the cep or king bolete . A number of rare or threatened species are also present in the family, that have become the focus of increasing conservation concerns. As a whole, the typical members of the family are commonly known as boletes.
Xerocomus is a genus of poroid fungi related to Boletus. Many mycologists did not originally recognize the distinction between the two genera and placed Xerocomus taxa in genus Boletus. However, several molecular phylogenetic studies have demonstrated that Xerocomus is a heterogeneous genus of polyphyletic origin, which has resulted in further division of Xerocomus into Xerocomellus and Hemileccinum. The members of the genus Xerocomellus are more closely related to Boletus than true Xerocomus is, which is relatively distantly related to Boletus and more closely related to Phylloporus. Other former Xerocomus species have since been moved to Aureoboletus, Imleria, Hortiboletus and Rheubarbariboletus.
Hortiboletus rubellus, commonly known as the ruby bolete, is a small, dainty, brightly coloured member of the family Boletaceae, with a reddish cap and stipe, and yellow pores. Like many boletes, it stains blue when cut or bruised. It is found in deciduous woodland in autumn. There is some question over its edibility, and it is reportedly of poor quality with a taste of soap. Until 2015, the species was known as Boletus rubellus.
Exsudoporus permagnificus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae, native to Southern Europe and Western Asia. Described as new to science in 1981, the fungus was originally placed in genus Boletus. Following molecular studies outlining a new phylogenetic framework for Boletaceae, the fungus was transferred to the newly erected genus Exsudoporus in 2014, to which it is the type species. Nevertheless, Wu and colleagues (2016) were reluctant to accept the newly proposed genus due to a lack of sufficient sequences and regarded it a synonym of Butyriboletus. Following studies reinstated the status of Exsudoporus as a monophyletic genus sister to Butyriboletus, following additional collections and extended phylogenetic and morphological analyses.
Exsudoporus floridanus is a species of edible bolete mushroom in the family Boletaceae. In 1945, American mycologist Rolf Singer described a species he found in Florida during his 1942–3 tenure of a Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He originally described it as a subspecies of the eastern North American species Boletus frostii, but later considered it worthy of distinct species status in a 1947 publication. Based on morphological and phylogenetic data, Vizzini and colleagues transferred this species to a newly described genus Exsudoporus in 2014. Due to lack of sufficient sequences, Wu et al. (2016) were reluctant to accept Exsudoporus and considered it a synonym of Butyriboletus, so they proposed a new combination Butyriboletus floridanus. However, following phylogenetic and morphological analyses clearly resolved Exsudoporus as a monophyletic, homogenous and independent genus that is sister to Butyriboletus.
Xerocomellus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus, as it was described in 2008, contained 12 species. However X. rubellus and X. engelii were transferred to the new genus Hortiboletus and X. armeniacus was transferred to the new genus Rheubarbariboletus in 2015. Molecular analysis supports the distinction of Xerocomellus species from Boletus and Xerocomus, within which these species were formerly contained. Xerocomellus in fact is only distantly related to Xerocomus and is most closely related to Tylopilus, Boletus sensu stricto, Porphyrellus, Strobilomyces, and Xanthoconium.
Neoboletus sinensis, known until 2014 as Boletus sinensis, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae native to Hainan province in China. It is closely related to, and was previously considered a form of, Suillellus luridus. It was transferred to the new genus Neoboletus in 2014.
Butyriboletus peckii is a fungus of the genus Butyriboletus native to eastern North America. It was first described by Charles Christopher Frost in 1878. Until 2014, it was known as Boletus peckii. Recent changes in the phylogenetic framework of the Boletaceae prompted the transfer of this species, along with several other related boletes, including Caloboletus calopus, to the genus Caloboletus. In 2015, Kuan Zhao and colleagues published analysis that demonstrated that the bolete belongs to Butyriboletus, closely related to Butyriboletus pulchriceps.
Cyanoboletus sinopulverulentus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. Described as new to science in 2013, it is found in Shaanxi Province, central China. It is a member of the Cyanoboletus pulverulentus species complex. It was originally named as a species of Boletus in 2013 before being transferred to Cyanoboletus in 2014.
Butyriboletus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 2014 by mycologists David Arora and Jonathan L. Frank to accommodate "butter bolete" species that were shown by molecular analysis to be phylogenetically distinct from Boletus. Butyriboletus contains 24 ectomycorrhizal species found in Asia, Europe, North America and north Africa.
Rubroboletus lupinus, commonly known as the wolf bolete, is a bolete fungus of the genus Rubroboletus. Originally described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1838 as species of Boletus, it was transferred to Rubroboletus in 2015, a genus circumscribed to host other allied reddish-colored, blue-staining bolete species forming a distinct clade. The species epithet is derived from the Latin word lupus, meaning "wolf".
Neoboletus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae, native to holarctic regions. It was circumscribed in 2014 by Italian mycologists Matteo Gelardi, Giampaolo Simonini and Alfredo Vizzini, and further by Chinese mycologists Gang Wu and Zhu L. Yang in 2015. Closely related to the genus Sutorius, members of this genus differ by staining blue when bruised. They have brown pores and lack a reticulated pattern on their stipes. The erection of Neoboletus follows recent molecular studies that outlined a new phylogenetic framework for the Boletaceae. The type species is Neoboletus luridiformis. Five species were added to the genus by Gelardi and Vizzini in 2014.
Caloboletus is a fungal genus in the family Boletaceae. It was circumscribed by Italian mycologist Alfredo Vizzini with Caloboletus calopus as the type species. The erection of Caloboletus follows recent molecular studies that outlined a new phylogenetic framework for the Boletaceae. Boletus peckii was also transferred to this genus by Vizzini, but was subsequently moved to the genus Butyriboletus based on molecular evidence. The generic name Caloboletus, derived from the Greek calos "nice", refers to the attractive red coloring of the stipe.
Hortiboletus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. It was circumscribed in 2015 by Giampaolo Simonini, Alfredo Vizzini, and Matteo Gelardi. The erection of Hortiboletus follows recent molecular studies that outlined a new phylogenetic framework for the Boletaceae. Hortiboletus is derived from the Latin word hortus "garden", referring to a typical habitat of the type species, Hortiboletus rubellus. The bolete H. bubalinus, originally described as a Boletus and later placed in Xerocomus, was transferred to the genus by Bálint Dima. In 2015, Alona Yu. Biketova transferred Boletus campestris and Boletus engelii to Hortiboletus.
Rheubarbariboletus is a fungal genus in the family Boletaceae. Circumscribed in 2014, it contains two species found in Europe: Rheubarbariboletus persicolor, and the type, R. armeniacus. The generic name is derived from the Latin rheubarbarum, meaning "rhubarb", referring to the color of the flesh at the base of the stipe. The genus is closely related to Xerocomellus, but differs by having smooth spores, the unchanging yellowish to orange-rhubarb coloring of the stipe base, and the distinctive dark-green to black color reaction with iron sulphate on both the surface of the cap and on the flesh of the stipe.
Imleria badia, commonly known as the bay bolete, is an edible, pored mushroom found in Eurasia and North America, where it grows in coniferous or mixed woods on the ground or on decaying tree stumps, sometimes in prolific numbers. Both the common and scientific names refer to the bay- or chestnut-coloured cap, which is almost spherical in young specimens before broadening and flattening out to a diameter up to 15 cm (6 in). On the cap underside are small yellowish pores that turn dull blue-grey when bruised. The smooth, cylindrical stipe, measuring 4–9 cm long by 1–2 cm thick, is coloured like the cap, but paler. Some varieties have been described from eastern North America, differing from the main type in both macroscopic and microscopic morphology.
Exsudoporus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. It was circumscribed in 2014 by Alfredo Vizzini and colleagues, following a number of molecular studies that outlined a new phylogenetic framework for Boletaceae and revealed the genus Boletus in its traditional circumscription to be polyphyletic. However, due to lack of sufficient sequences, Wu and colleagues (2016) were reluctant to accept the newly proposed genus and considered it a synonym of Butyriboletus. Following additional phylogenetic sequencing and morphological analyses, Exsudoporus was clearly resolved as a monophyletic, homogenous and independent genus that is sister to Butyriboletus.
Pulchroboletus is a fungal genus in the family Boletaceae. It was circumscribed in 2014 to contain the species formerly known as Xerocomus roseoalbidus, a rare bolete fungus originally described from Sardinia, Italy. Pulchroboletus roseoalbidus is found in Mediterranean Europe, where it grows in association with oak species and less often Cistus species. In 2017, the species Boletus rubricitrinus was moved to Pulchroboletus. Pulchroboletus rubricitrinus can be found under Quercus in lawns in Florida and Texas.
Xerocomellus dryophilus, commonly known as the oak-loving bolete and formerly known as Boletus dryophilus or Xerocomus dryophilus, is a basidiomycete fungus in the family Boletaceae native to North America. It appears to only occur under the coast live oak, and is only found in California, where it is one of the most common boletes in the Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
Sutorius magnificus, known until 2014 as Boletus magnificus, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae native to Yunnan province in China. It was transferred to the new genus Neoboletus in 2014, and then Sutorius in 2016.
