Leccinum duriusculum

Description

Leccinum duriusculum is a bolete mushroom in the genus Leccinum. The cap of Leccinum duriusculum is frequently colored brown, gray, and red. The color of the flesh is often gray, pink, white, and yellow. The gills of Leccinum duriusculum are regularly colored gray, green, white, and yellow. The stem is often colored black, brown, gray, green, and white. When cut, the coloring of Leccinum duriusculum changes to blue, gray, green, red, and yellow. The spore dust is frequently colored brown and yellow.

Originally called Boletus duriusculus by Hungarian–Croatian mycologist Stephan Schulzer von Müggenburg in 1874, it was transferred to Leccinum by Rolf Singer in 1947.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   4 to 15 cm, convex, finally (but rarely) with an almost flat center. Often the skin is protruding slightly above the tubes. The color of the hat is varied - most often pale gray to too dark gray or reddish-brown. The surface is dry, finely velvety, sometimes very finely scaly, it becomes smooth with age and sometimes cracks.

2. Tubes

   Free or almost free of the stump. Up to 2.5 cm long. First creamy, then gray-beige. The pores are round, small (about 0.3-0.4 mm in diameter), beige, and change color to light brown when injured.

3. Stem

   8–15 cm x 1.5–3 cm, firm, straight, slightly tapering under the cap, cylindrical to slightly club-shaped at the base. Its color is almost white at the top, whitish to beige - at the bottom. The stump is completely covered with fine grayish to almost black scales, larger to the base, often arranged in rows, which at the top of the stump sometimes form a reticulate structure.

4. Flesh

   Thick and dense. In the hat and the upper part of the stump is white, reddens when injured, after a while it changes to dark gray-purple or almost black. At the base of the stump the color is often yellowish-green shades and when cut in places changes to blue-green. The smell is indistinguishable. The taste is impersonal to moderate.

5. Spores

   Spindle-shaped with a conical tip. With dimensions 14-16 x 4.5-6 μm. The color of the disputed imprint is tobacco brown.

6. Habitat

   Forms mycorrhiza with various species and hybrids of the genus Populus (poplar), in particular with white poplar (P. alba) and aspen (P. tremula). Prefers calcareous clay soils, but is also found on sand or clay. It appears from summer to late autumn. It is not common.

History

Leccinum duriusculum (Gender: Neuter) was scientifically described by R. Singer and effectively published in 1947. The name Leccinum duriusculum is of type combination. Leccinum duriusculum has the status legitimate.

The scientific classification of Leccinum duriusculum is Fungi, Dikarya, Basidiomycota, Agaricomycotina, Agaricomycetes, Agaricomycetidae, Boletales, Boletaceae, Leccinum. For further information, please see R. Singer (1947, p. 122).

Synonyms

1. Boletus duriusculus Schulzer (1874)

2. Gyroporus rufus var. duruisculus (Schulzer ex Kalchbr.) Quél. (1886)

3. Suillus duriusculus (Schulzer ex Kalchbr.) O.Kuntze (1898)

4. Krombholzia duriuscula (Schulzer ex Kalchbr.) E.-J.Gilbert (1931)

5. Krombholzia aurantiaca subsp. duriuscula (Schulzer) Maire (1933)

6. Leccinum aurantiacum subsp. duriusculum (Schulzer ex Kalchbr.) Hlaváček (1958)

7. Boletus populinus (Schulzer) Smotl. (1989)

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Gerhard Koller (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Pumber (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Gerhard Koller (CC BY-SA 3.0)