Suillus tridentinus

Description

Suillus tridentinus is an uncommon, edible mushroom in the genus Suillus, found mainly at higher altitudes beneath larches on chalk. It can be found together with larch boletes, but is more scarce. The cap is convex, orange to rusty red, slimy, and often covered with dark brown scales. The cap grows up to 12 cm in diameter. The stipe is rusty orange like the cap, with a hint of a slimy, yellowish-white ring that soon disappears. The flesh is lemon yellow with a mild taste. Fruitbody with partial veil, leaving the more or less visible ring on the stipe.

The bolete is considered endangered in the Czech Republic.

Common names: Orange Larch Bolete.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   Up to 12 cm, at first hemispherical then expanding to convex, yellowish-orange, orange-yellow, orange to brownish orange, viscid, towards the cap margin with numerous darker scales.

2. Stipe

   Cylindrical or clavate, almost concolorous with the cap, with a more or less distinct ring.

3. Flesh

   Pale orange or yellowish-orange in the stipe, paler in the cap.

4. Tubes and Pores

   Tubes orange-yellow to orange. Pores medium-sized, orange-yellow to orange with a rusty or brownish tint.

5. Odor and Taste

   Smell not distinctive. Taste slightly acid.

6. Spores

   9.5–13.5 × 4–5 μm.

7. Habitat

   Coniferous forests, sometimes artificial plantations, mycorrhizal with larch (Larix).

8. Distribution

   In Europe spread within the natural range of larch and also seen where larches are introduced.

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Volker Fäßler (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 2 - Author: Holger Krisp (CC BY 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: Giacomo Bresadola (Public Domain)