Suillellus queletii
Description
Suillellus queletii (formerly Boletus queletii) is an edible mushroom in the genus Suillellus. The cap is hemispherical, latter flattening out, appearing olive to reddish-brown, rarely also dark red. The flesh is yellow, turning blue when cut. The pores are initially yellow, soon become orange, and finally can be reddish. The stipe is smooth and golden yellow and the flesh has a slightly acrid taste.
Said to be edible if thoroughly cooked, but we consider it too unusual a find to justify picking for the pot.
Common names: Deceiving Bolete.
Mushroom Identification
Cap
Deceiving Bolete caps range from 6 to 18cm across, broadly convex and eventually almost flattening; yellowish-orange, apricot-orange or reddish-orange and occasionally even deeper red; surface dry and minutely pruinose at first, becoming smoother with age; bruising blue-black.
Tubes and Pores
The tubes, which are ochre and turn blue when cut and exposed to air, terminate in distinctive peach to apricot-orange pores.
Stem
Stems of Suillellus queletii are solid rather than hollow, cylindrica or slightloy clavate, or more often tapered and rooting; 4 to 8cm long and 4 to 8mm in diameter, yellow at the apex, and progressively deeper red towards the base, the surface usually punctate/granular but sometimes a very faint reticule is present.
In the upper half of the stem, the stem flesh is a pale yellow, bruising blue, which the flesh in the lower half of the stem is a deep vinaceous red - almost beetroot red-purple.
This feature helps to distinguish Suillellus queletii from the otherwise rather similar Scarletina Bolete Neoboletus luridiformis (syn. Boletus erythropus) whose stem flesh is nearly always yellow with little or no hint of red.
Spores
Subfusiform to ellipsoidal, smooth; 9-14 x 4.5-7µm (unusually short and fat for a Boletus species); Q = 1.5-2.5.
Spore Print
Olive-brown.
Odor and Taste
Not significant.
Habitat & Ecological Role
Suillellus queletii is an ectomycorrhizal fungus; it is usually found growing on alkaline soil beneath hardwood trees, notably oaks but also beech and limes; in mainland Europe, this bolete has also been recorded with birches.
Look-Alikes
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The Lurid Bolete has a distinctive network on the stem, making it look like a net.
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The Scarletina Bolete has red dots all over the stem which the Deceiving Bolete lacks, it also does not have the beetroot color in the base of the stem flesh.
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Has generally yellow stem flesh (and larger spores).
History
Suillellus queletii was given the name Boletus queletii in 1885 by Austro-Hungarian mycologist Stephan Schulzer von Müggenburg (1802 - 1892). In 2004, based on recent DNA analysis, Italian mycologists Vizzini, Simonini & Gelardi transferred this species to the new genus Suillellus, establishing the scientific name Suillellus queletii.
In 1796 Christiaan Hendrik Persoon described a type of bolete under the name Boletus erythropus and in the next 200 years the same name was widely used for a well-known species having red pores. But recently it was discovered that Persoon's mushroom had orange pores, that usage of the name B. erythropus was invalid, and now the red-pored species (after a separate change to the genus too) has to be called Neoboletus luridiformis). It is best not to use the ambiguous name Boletus erythropus anymore, but according to Funga Nordica the fungus described by Persoon was Suillellus queletii.
Synonyms of Suillellus queletii Schulzer include Boletus lateritius Bres. & R. Schulz, Suillellus queletii var. rubicundus Maire, and Suillellus queletii var. lateritius (Bres. & R. Schulz) E.-J. Gilbert.
The generic name Boletus comes from the Greek bolos, meaning 'lump of clay', while the new genus name Suillellus may perhaps imply a relationship with the genus 'Suillus' - Suillus means of pigs (swine) and is a reference to the greasy nature of the caps of fungi in that genus.
The specific epithet queletii is in honor of famous nineteenth-century French mycologist Lucien Quélet.
Photo sources:
Photo 1 - Author: zaca (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 2 - Author: zaca (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photo 3 - Author: Jiří Čepelákderivative work: Xth-Floor (Public Domain)
Photo 4 - Author: Dušan Vučić (CC BY-SA 4.0)
