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.
Boletus is a genus of mushroom-producing fungi, comprising over 100 species. The genus Boletus was originally broadly defined and described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, essentially containing all fungi with hymenial pores instead of gills. Since then, other genera have been defined gradually, such as Tylopilus by Petter Adolf Karsten in 1881, and old names such as Leccinum have been resurrected or redefined. Some mushrooms listed in older books as members of the genus have now been placed in separate genera. These include such as Boletus scaber, now Leccinum scabrum, Tylopilus felleus, Chalciporus piperatus and Suillus luteus. Most boletes have been found to be ectomycorrhizal fungi, which means that they form a mutualistic relationship with the roots system of certain kinds of plants. More recently, Boletus has been found to be massively polyphyletic, with only a small percentage of the over 300 species that have been assigned to Boletus actually belonging there and necessitating the description and resurrection of many more genera.
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.
Suillellus luridus, commonly known as the lurid bolete, is a fungus of the family Boletaceae, found in calcareous broadleaved woodlands in Europe. Fruit bodies appear in summer and autumn and may be locally abundant. It is a firm bolete with an olive-brown cap up to 20 cm (8 in) in diameter, with small orange or red pores on the underside. The stout ochre stem reaches 8–14 cm (3–6 in) high and 1–3 cm (0.4–1.2 in) wide, and is patterned with a red network. Like several other red-pored boletes, it stains blue when bruised or cut.
Xerocomus subtomentosus, commonly known as suede bolete, brown and yellow bolete , 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.
Chalciporus is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. There are approximately 25 species in the genus.
Rubroboletus rhodoxanthus is a species of bolete in the family Boletaceae, native to Europe. Previously known as Boletus rhodoxanthus, it was transferred in 2014 to the newly erected genus Rubroboletus, based on DNA data.
The oldrose bolete, Imperator rhodopurpureus, is an inedible fungus of the genus Imperator, found under deciduous trees including oak and beech in neutral soils. Initially described as Boletus rhodopurpureus, it was transferred to the new genus Imperator in 2015. The bolete is considered critically endangered in the Czech Republic., and endangered in the United Kingdom, reported most commonly from Berkshire and Hampshire, and typically very rare throughout, although up to a hundred fruiting bodies have been recorded at a few sites.
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.
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.
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.
Chalciporus amarellus is a bolete fungus of the family Boletaceae, native to Europe. It was first described in 1883 by French mycologist Lucien Quélet as Boletus amarellus, and later transferred in genus Chalciporus by Frédéric Bataille in 1908.
Hemileccinum is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. It was erected in 2008 by Josef Šutara to contain two species united by a number of shared morphological features: H. depilatum and the type H. impolitum. In 2014, Wu et al. found it to be distinct from other bolete genera in a molecular phylogenetic study and found it to be most closely related to Corneroboletus. In 2015, H. subglabripes was transferred to Hemileccinum from Boletus based on DNA evidence, while subsequent studies further confirmed the monophyly of the genus.
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.
Butyriboletus fechtneri is a basidiomycete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It was formerly regarded as a species of Boletus, but in 2014 was transferred to the newly erected genus Butyriboletus, after molecular data revealed that it is a member of the "Regius" clade, quite distant from the core clade of B. edulis and closely allied species.
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".
Imperator is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. It was circumscribed in 2015 by Boris Assyov and colleagues. The erection of Imperator follows recent molecular studies that outlined a new phylogenetic framework for the Boletaceae.
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.
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.
Leccinellum lepidum is a species of bolete in the family Boletaceae. Originally described as Boletus lepidus in 1965, the fungus has gone through controversial taxonomic treatments over the years and was subsequently transferred to genus Krombholziella in 1985, to genus Leccinum in 1990, and to genus Leccinellum in 2003. It is the sister-species of Leccinellum corsicum, with which it had been erroneously synonymised by some authors in the past.
