Going into the forest for summer boletus (Leccinum), you can not worry: these species do not have poisonous counterparts. Mushrooms that ripen in June are only slightly similar to the bile Tylopilus felleus, but these inedible fruiting bodies have a pinkish flesh, so it is difficult to confuse them with Leccinum. Boletus boletus, appearing in the forest in early summer, continue fruiting until mid-autumn.
Boletus mushrooms are known to everyone. The June varieties are especially desirable, as they are the first among the tubular valuable mushrooms. In June, when there are still few mosquitoes in the forest, it is pleasant to walk along the nascent green forest strip. At this time, they prefer the southern open sides of trees and small uplands along canals and the banks of rivers and lakes.
At this time, the following types of boletus are most often found:
- yellow-brown
- Ordinary
- marshy
Photos, descriptions and main characteristics of boletus mushrooms of all these varieties are presented in this material.
Boletus yellow-brown
Where do yellow-brown boletus (Leccinum versipelle) grow: birch, coniferous and mixed forests.
Season: from June to October.
The cap is fleshy, 5-15 cm in diameter, and in some cases up to 20 cm. The shape of the cap is hemispherical with a slightly woolly surface, with age it becomes less convex. Color – yellow-brown or bright orange. Often the skin hangs over the edge of the cap. The lower surface is finely porous, the pores are light gray, yellow-gray, ocher-gray.
In this type of boletus mushrooms, the leg is thin and long, white in color, covered along the entire length with black scales, in immature specimens it is dark.
The flesh is dense whitish, on the cut it turns gray-black.
Tubular layer up to 2,5 cm thick with very fine white pores.
Variability: the color of the cap varies from light brown to yellow-brown and dark brown. As the fungus matures, the skin of the cap may shrink, exposing the tubules surrounding it. The pores and tubules are whitish at first, then yellow-gray. The scales on the stem are gray at first, then almost black.
There are no toxic twins. Similar to these boletus bile mushrooms (Tylopilus felleus), which have a flesh with a pinkish tinge and they have an unpleasant odor and a very bitter taste.
Cooking methods: drying, pickling, canning, frying. It is recommended to remove the leg before use, and in older mushrooms – the skin.
Edible, 2th category.
See what the yellow-brown boletus looks like in these photos:
Common boletus
When the common boletus (Leccinum scabrum) grows: from the beginning of June to the end of October.
Habitats: deciduous, more often birch forests, but also found in mixed forests, singly or in groups.
The cap is fleshy, 5-16 cm in diameter, and in some cases up to 25 cm. The shape of the cap is hemispherical, then cushion-shaped, smooth with a slightly fibrous surface. Variable color: grayish, gray-brown, dark brown, brown. Often the skin hangs over the edge of the cap.
Leg 7-20 cm, thin and long, cylindrical, slightly thickened downwards. In young mushrooms, it is club-shaped. The stem is white with scales that are almost black in mature mushrooms. The leg tissue of older specimens becomes fibrous and stiff. Thickness – 1-3,5 cm.
The pulp is dense whitish or friable. At a break, the color changes slightly to pink or gray-pink with a good smell and taste.
The hymenophore is nearly free or notched, whitish or greyish to dirty gray in age, and consists of tubules 1–2,5 cm long. The pores of the tubules are small, angular-rounded, whitish.
Variability: the color of the cap varies from light brown to dark brown. As the fungus matures, the skin of the cap may shrink, exposing the tubules surrounding it. The pores and tubules are whitish at first, then yellow-gray. The scales on the stem are gray at first, then almost black.
There are no toxic twins. By description. this boletus is somewhat similar to the gall fungus (Tylopilus felleus), which has pinkish flesh, an unpleasant odor and a very bitter taste.
Cooking methods: drying, pickling, canning, frying.
Edible, 2th category.
These photos show what a common boletus mushroom looks like:
Boletus marsh
When the marsh boletus mushroom (Leccinum nucatum) grows: from July to the end of September.
Habitats: singly and in groups in sphagnum bogs and in damp mixed forests with birches, near water bodies.
The cap is 3-10 cm in diameter, and in some cases up to 14 cm, in young mushrooms it is convex, cushion-shaped, then flatter, smooth or slightly wrinkled. A distinctive feature of the species is the nut or creamy brown color of the cap.
The stem is thin and long, whitish or whitish-cream. The second distinctive feature of the species is the large scales on the stem, especially in young specimens, when the surface looks very rough and even bumpy.
Height – 5-13 cm, sometimes reaches 18 cm, thickness – 1-2,5 cm.
The pulp is soft, white, dense, has a slight mushroom aroma. The hymenophore is whitish, becoming grayish with time.
Tubular layer 1,2-2,5 cm thick, white in young specimens and dirty grayish later, with rounded-angular tube pores.
Variability: the color of the cap varies from hazel to light brown. Tubules and pores – from white to gray. The white leg darkens with age, becoming covered with brownish-gray scales.
There are no toxic twins. By the color of the cap, these boletus mushrooms are similar to inedible bile mushrooms (Tylopilus felleus), in which the flesh has a pinkish tinge and a bitter taste.
Edible, 2th category.
Here you can see photos of boletus, the description of which is presented on this page:
