Royal boletus (Butyriboletus regius) photo and description

Royal boletus (Butyriboletus regius)

Boletus royal (lat. Butyriboletus regius) is a mushroom of the genus Butyriboletus of the Boletaceae family. Previously, this species was assigned to the genus Borovik (Boletus).

head This fungus has a bright pink, purple-red or pinkish-red color, but the color usually fades with age. The skin is delicately fibrous, smooth, but sometimes whitish mesh cracks appear on it. The cap of young mushrooms is convex, and then it becomes pillow-shaped, and in old mushrooms it can be completely flat, opening up to a prostrate shape with a dent in the center. Hat sizes – from 6 to 15 cm in diameter.

Pulp yellow, turning blue on the cut, has a dense structure and a pleasant mushroom taste and smell.

Leg up to 15 cm in height and up to 6 cm in thickness, yellowish-brown thickened shape. There is a thin yellow mesh pattern on the top of the stem.

Hymenophore tubular and free, near the leg there is a deep recess. The color of the tubular layer is greenish or yellowish. Tubules up to 2,5 cm long with rounded pores.

Споры smooth spindle-shaped, 15×5 microns. Spore powder has a brown-olive color.

There is a royal boletus mainly in beech and other deciduous forests. In Our Country, it is distributed in the Caucasus, and is also rare in the Far East. This fungus prefers sandy and calcareous soils. You can collect this mushroom from June to September.

Food quality

A good edible boletus, which in taste is very similar to rooted boletus. The royal boletus has a fragrant and dense pulp, which is very highly valued. You can use this mushroom both freshly prepared and canned.

Similar species

Outwardly, the royal boletus resembles a related species – a beautiful boletus (Boletus speciosus), which has a red leg and blue flesh.