Suillus grevillei

What You Should Know

Suillus grevillei (syn. Suillus Clintonianus) is a mycorrhizal mushroom with a tight, brilliantly colored cap, shiny and wet looking with its mucous slime layer. The hymenium easily separates from the flesh of the cap, with a central stalk that is quite slender. The species has a ring or a tight-fitting annular zone.

This mushroom is often eaten in Eastern Europe, where the slimy layer and top part of the cap are peeled off, the tubes removed and just the flesh of the cap which is very well cooked is used.

Suillus grevillei is common in Europe, Asia and North America. The area of occupancy (AOO) of this species is much larger than 2,000 km², and its extent of occurrence (EOO) is much larger than 20,000 km².

Other names: Greville's Bolete, Larch Bolete, Larch Suillus, Tamarack Jack, Lärksopp (Sweden), Zeltainā Sviestbeka (Latvia).

Suillus grevillei Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   Bright yellow 5–10 cm (2–4 in), darkening to burnt orange on older specimens. Starting convex but flattening in older mushrooms. The cap is viscid and looks shiny even when the weather is dry and is covered in slime. The variant badius has a chestnut brown cap.

2. Pores

   Sponge-like, angular, bright yellow pores that darken with maturity and will bruise a rust color.

3. Stem

   Yellow with brown scales underneath the veil-like skirt and smooth above. Before the mushroom fully opens the pores are covered by a fine web like veil which joins the edge of the cap to the stem, when this comes away it forms the skirt.

4. Skirt

   Has a ring zone left from the veil over the pores not a true skirt.

5. Flesh

   Yellow-orange and holding a lot of water.

6. Habitat

   Under and around Larch trees.

7. Spore Print

   Oche-sienna colored.

8. Taste and Smell

   This mushroom holds so much water that it needs drying to get a flavor and texture from but as it holds so much water it drys to next to nothing, otherwise it can be added to soups and stews to bulk them out.

9. Similar Species

   Suillus granulatus is quite similar but has no stem ring.

Suillus grevillei Taxonomy and Etymology

When German botanist-mycologist Johann Friedrich Klotzsch (1805 - 1860) described this species in 1832 he created its basionym when he gave this boletoid fungus the binomial scientific name Boletus grevillei. In 1945 Rolf Singer established the currently-accepted scientific name as Suillus grevillei.

Synonyms of Suillus grevillei include Boletus annularius Bolton, Boletus elegans Schumach., Boletus grevillei Klotzsch, Ixocomus flavus var. elegans (Schumach.) Quél., Ixocomus elegans f. badius Singer, Suillus elegans (Schumach.) Snell, and Suillus grevillei f. badius (Singer) Singer.

The generic name Suillus means of pigs (swine) and is a reference to the greasy nature of the caps of fungi in this genus.

The specific epithet of this very common bolete is named in honor of the Scottish botanist/mycologist Robert Kaye Greville (1794 – 1866), whose academic career was paralleled by an interest in all aspects of the natural world and exceptional talent as a botanical and landscape artist.

Suillus species are generally far more gregarious than other boletes, and Suillus grevillei is no exception; often the Larch Bolete creates lines or arcs of ten or more fruitbodies, with a succession of mushrooms over several weeks.

Sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Lukas from London, England (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic)

Photo 2 - Author: Strobilomyces (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)

Photo 3 - Author: Nefronus (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)

Photo 4 - Author: Holger Krisp (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)

Photo 5 - Author: Σ64 (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)