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.
Tylopilus is a genus of over 100 species of mycorrhizal bolete fungi separated from Boletus. Its best known member is the bitter bolete, the only species found in Europe. More species are found in North America, such as the edible species T. alboater. Australia is another continent where many species are found. All members of the genus form mycorrhizal relationships with trees. Members of the genus are distinguished by their pinkish pore surfaces.
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.
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.
Zangia is a genus of bolete fungi in the family Boletaceae. The genus, circumscribed in 2011, contains six species found in China. Zangia species grow in forests dominated by Fagaceae mixed with Pinaceae (pines).
Tylopilus tabacinus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is characterized by a tawny-brown cap measuring up to 17.5 cm (6.9 in) in diameter, and a reticulated stem up to 16.5 cm (6.5 in) long by 6 cm (2.4 in) thick. A characteristic microscopic feature is the distinctive crystalline substance encrusted on the hyphae in the surface of the cap. The species is known from the eastern United States from Florida north to Rhode Island, and west to Mississippi, and from eastern Mexico. It is a mycorrhizal species, and associates with oak and beech trees.
Sutorius is a genus of fungi in the family Boletaceae. Its type species is the widely distributed Sutorius eximius. The Asian Boletus obscureumbrinus, found in Japan and China, was described by Japanese mycologist Tsuguo Hongo in 1968, moved to genus Sutorius in 2016, but then reclassified into genus Neoboletus in 2019. The Australian Sutorius australiensis and the southern Chinese Sutorius subrufus also belong to the genus.
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.
Tylopilus badiceps is a bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae native to North America. It was described in 1900 as Boletus badiceps by Charles Horton Peck, and transferred to the genus Tylopilus in 1971 by Alexander H. Smith and Harry Delbert Thiers. It is a good edible mushroom.
Tylopilus ferrugineus is a bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae native to North America. Originally described by Charles Christopher Frost in 1874 as Boletus ferrugineus, it was placed in the genus Tylopilus by Rolf Singer in 1947.
Austroboletus gracilis is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. Originally described as Boletus gracilis by Charles Horton Peck in 1872, it was transferred to the genus Austroboletus by Carl B. Wolfe in 1979.
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.
Harrya chromapes, commonly known as the yellowfoot bolete or the chrome-footed bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. The bolete is found in eastern North America, Costa Rica, and eastern Asia, where it grows on the ground, in a mycorrhizal association with deciduous and coniferous trees. Fruit bodies have smooth, rose-pink caps that are initially convex before flattening out. The pores on the cap undersurface are white, aging to a pale pink as the spores mature. The thick stipe has fine pink or reddish dots (scabers), and is white to pinkish but with a bright yellow base. The mushrooms are edible but are popular with insects, and so they are often infested with maggots.
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 21 ectomycorrhizal species found in Asia, Europe, North America and north Africa.
Tylopilus funerarius is a bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. Found in Singapore, it was described as new to science in 1909 by English mycologist George Edward Massee. He described it as a "sombre, uninviting species, characterised by brownish-black velvety pileus and brown tube and pores", and considered it similar in appearance to Boletus chrysenteron. The species was transferred to the genus Tylopilus in 1981.
Rugiboletus is a fungal genus in the family Boletaceae. It was circumscribed by Chinese mycologists Gang Wu and Zhu L. Yang in 2015 with the alpine species Rugiboletus extremiorientalis from eastern Asia as the type species. Rugiboletus brunneiporus of southern China and India was also described that same year. The erection of Rugiboletus follows recent molecular studies that outlined a new phylogenetic framework for the Boletaceae. The generic name—derived from the Latin stem rugi- ("wrinkled") and Boletus as the mushroom caps are wrinkled and furrowed, unlike any other boletes.
Caloboletus kluzakii is a bolete fungus native to Europe. Until 2014, it was known as Boletus kluzakii. Recent changes in the phylogenetic framework of the family Boletaceae prompted the transfer of this species, along with several other related boletes, including Caloboletus calopus, to the genus Caloboletus. It was described scientifically in 2006 by Josef Šutara and Pavel Špinar, from specimens collected in the Czech Republic. The fungus had earlier been published with the name Boletus fallax by Czech mycologist Zdeněk Kluzák in 1988, but this was invalid, as that name had been used previously by E.J.H. Corner for a Malaysian bolete. The epithet honours Kluzák's contributions in describing the species.
Sutorius eximius, commonly known as the lilac-brown bolete, is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. This bolete produces fruit bodies that are dark purple to chocolate brown in color with a smooth cap, a finely scaly stipe, and a reddish-brown spore print. The tiny pores on the cap underside are chocolate to violet brown. It is widely distributed, having been recorded on North America, South America, and Asia, where it grows in a mycorrhizal relationship with both coniferous and deciduous trees.
