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.
Strobilomyces is a genus of boletes. The only well-known European species is the type species S. strobilaceus, known in English as "old man of the woods".
Leccinum scabrum, commonly known as the rough-stemmed bolete, scaber stalk, and birch bolete, is an edible mushroom in the family Boletaceae, and was formerly classified as Boletus scaber. The birch bolete is widespread in Europe, in the Himalayas in Asia, and elsewhere in the Northern Hemisphere, occurring only in mycorrhizal association with birch trees. It fruits from June to October. This mushroom is also becoming increasingly common in Australia and New Zealand where it is likely introduced.
Caloboletus calopus, commonly known as the bitter beech bolete or scarlet-stemmed bolete, is a fungus of the bolete family, found in Asia, Northern Europe and North America. Appearing in coniferous and deciduous woodland in summer and autumn, the stout fruit bodies are attractively coloured, with a beige to olive cap up to 15 cm (6 in) across, yellow pores, and a reddish stipe up to 15 cm (6 in) long and 5 cm (2 in) wide. The pale yellow flesh stains blue when broken or bruised.
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.
Rubroboletus pulcherrimus—known as Boletus pulcherrimus until 2015—is a species of mushroom in the family Boletaceae. It is a large bolete from Western North America with distinguishing features that include a netted surface on the stem, a red to brown cap and stem color, and red pores that stain blue upon injury. Until 2005 this was the only bolete that has been implicated in the death of someone consuming it; a couple developed gastrointestinal symptoms in 1994 after eating this fungus with the husband succumbing. Autopsy revealed infarction of the midgut.
Gymnopus dryophilus is a mushroom commonly found in temperate woodlands of Europe and North America. It is generally saprophytic, but occasionally also attacks living wood. It belongs to section Levipedes of the genus, being characterized by a smooth stem having no hairs at the base. Until recently it was most frequently known as Collybia dryophila.
Xerocomellus chrysenteron, formerly known as Boletus chrysenteron or Xerocomus chrysenteron, is a small, edible, wild mushroom in the family Boletaceae. These mushrooms have tubes and pores instead of gills beneath their caps. It is commonly known as the red cracking bolete.
Harry Delbert Thiers was an American mycologist who studied and named many fungi native to North America, particularly California. Thiers taught mycology at San Francisco State University. He comprehensively revised and expanded on the North American collection of boletes and named many new species.
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.
Xerocomellus porosporus is a small wild mushroom in the family Boletaceae. These mushrooms have tubes and pores instead of gills beneath their caps. It is commonly known as the sepia bolete.
Phylloporus rhodoxanthus, commonly known as the gilled bolete, is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. As suggested by its common name, the distinctive feature of this species is its yellow gills—an unusual feature on a bolete mushroom.
Exsudoporus 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. Exsudoporus 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.
Butyriboletus appendiculatus is an edible pored mushroom that grows under oaks and other broad leaved trees such as beech. It is commonly known as the butter bolete. It often grows in large colonies beneath the oak trees, and is frequently found cohabiting with old oaks in ancient woodland. It is relatively rare in Britain. Its stipe and pores are often bright yellow and its flesh stains bright blue when cut or bruised.
Xerocomellus zelleri, commonly known as Zeller's bolete, is an edible species of mushroom in the family Boletaceae. First described scientifically by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1912, the species has been juggled by various authors to several genera, including Boletus, Boletellus, and Xerocomus. Found solely in western North America from British Columbia south to Mexico, the fruit bodies are distinguished by their dark reddish brown to nearly black caps with uneven surfaces, the yellow pores on the underside of the caps, and the red-streaked yellow stems. The fungus grows in summer and autumn on the ground, often in Douglas fir forests or on their margins. The development of the fruit bodies is gymnocarpic, meaning that the hymenium appears and develops to maturity in an exposed state, not enclosed by any protective membrane.
Strobilomyces strobilaceus, also called Strobilomyces floccopus and commonly known as old man of the woods, is a species of fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is native to Europe and North America. Fruit bodies are characterized by very soft dark grey to black pyramidal and overlapping scales on the cap surface.
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.
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.
Aureoboletus flaviporus, commonly known as the viscid bolete, is a species of bolete fungus found in western North America, where it grows in ectomycorrhizal association with coast live oak, madrone, manzanita, and possibly with tanoak. In California, this mushroom appears during the rainy season in locations south of Mendocino County. This mushroom is "fairly common" but does not appear in large groupings, only as one-offs or small clusters in scattered locations.
