Buchwaldoboletus lignicola

Description

Buchwaldoboletus lignicola is a rare species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae native to Europe and North America. Found on wood, it is parasitic on the fungus Phaeolus schweinitzii. It has a convex yellow- to rusty brown cap, yellow to yellow-brown pores and stem. Flesh yellowish, slightly blueing above the tubes. Tubes at first bright yellow, then olivaceous yellow, unchanging when exposed to air. Pores bright yellow, unchanging when bruised. Smell and taste are not distinctive.

Grows in coniferous forests, associated with dead stumps of pines (Pinus), larch (Larix) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga); probably also a mycoparasite on Phaeolus schweinitzii. However, its was also recorded on deciduous trees, e.g. cherry (Šutara et al. 2009).

The occurrence of this species in localities is not permanent, because its growth ends after the exhaustion of nutrients from the wood, and its localities are, therefore, in contrast to mycorrhizal types of mushrooms, only relatively short-lived.

Common names: Wood Bolete, Houtboleet (Netherlands), Žltavec Drevový (Slovakia), Hřib Dřevožijný (Czech Republic), Brauner Nadelholzröhrling (Austria), Nadelholz-Pulverröhrling (German).

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   The cap is convex, becoming more broadly so in age, and measures 2.5–10 cm (1.0–3.9 in) in diameter. The cap margin has a band of sterile tissue that is rolled inwards when young. The cap surface is initially finely velvety but often develops fines cracks in maturity. Its color is rusty brown to yellow-brown. Easily peeled off the mushroom, the skin is separated from the yellow flesh by a thin gelatinous layer and can be moved back and forth across the cap.

2. Pores

   The pores are small and angular, measuring 1–3 per millimeter, while the tubes are 3–12 mm long. The pore surface is yellowish to brownish yellow in maturity, and stains bluish-green with injury.

3. Flesh

   The flesh may stain blue where it has been cut or otherwise injured, although this reaction is slow to develop, or may not occur at all.

4. Stem

   The stem measures 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) long by 0.6–2.5 cm (0.2–1.0 in) thick, and is roughly the same width throughout its length, or narrower at the base. There is a yellow mycelium at the stipe base.

5. Odor and Taste

   The smell is mild and sweet, but has occasionally been described as foul in old specimens. The edibility of B. lignicola is not known with certainty.

6. Spores

   Ellipsoid, smooth, and measure 6–10 by 3–4 µm.

7. Spore Print

   Olive-brown.

8. Habitat

   Distributed across Europe from the far northern subarctic regions south to Switzerland, and North America from Ontario and Quebec south to Pennsylvania. It is considered endangered in the Czech Republic. It is only found where the fungus Phaeolus schweinitzii grows, and microscopic tests have revealed it is parasitic on that species. The two are found with coniferous trees such as Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), eastern white pine (P. strobus) and European larch (Larix decidua), and less commonly deciduous trees such as wild cherry (Prunus avium).

Look-Alikes

1. Xerocomus badius

   Also grows sometimes on dead hardwood. It is however distinguished by the viscid cap cuticle and differently colored fruitbodies.

2. Buchwaldoboletus hemichrysus

   Rare and produces larger fruiting bodies, its cap is bright (sulfur) yellow when young, and the flesh turns distinctly blue when cut.

3. Gyrodon lividus

   Has tubes converging on the stem but with smaller pores when young and grows under alder trees.

History

Originally described by Franz Joseph Kallenbach in 1929 as Boletus lignicola, it was given its current name by mycologist Albert Pilát in 1969.

The species name comes from the Latin words lignum "wood" and the verb cǒlěre "to inhabit".

Synonyms

1. Boletus lignicola Kallenb., Pilze Mitteleuropas 1(9): 57 (1929) (basionym)

2. Boletus hemichrysus var. mutabilis Peck, Bull. N. Y. St. Mus. 8: 104 (1889)

3. Boletus sulphureus f. silvestris Kallenbach, Ann. Mycol. 22: 410 (1924)

4. Gyrodon lignicola (Kallenb.) Heinem., Bull. Jard. Bot. État Brux. 21: 238 (1951)

5. Ixocomus lignicola (Kallenb.) Konrad et Maublanc. Les Agaricales, p. 131 (1952)

6. Phlebopus lignicola (Kallenb.) M.M. Moser, in Gams, Kl. Krypt.-Fl., Edn 2 (Stuttgart) 2b: 31 (1955)

7. Pulveroboletus lignicola (Kallenb.) E. A. Dick et Snell, Mycologia 57(3): 451 (1965)

8. Pulveroboletus lignicola (Kallenb.) Pilát, Česká Mykol. 19(3): 180 (1965)

9. Xerocomus lignicola (Kallenb.) Singer, Annls mycol. 40(1/2): 43 (1942)

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: LukeEmski (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Photo 2 - Author: 2010-09-05 (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Photo 3 - Author: James Lindsey (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Photo 4 - Author: James Lindsey (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Photo 5 - Author: Eric Smith (esmith) (CC BY-SA 3.0)