COMMON NAME: Grey Bolete.

CAP: (5-14 cm) wide, convex, becoming broadly convex to flat or slightly depressed; surface dry, with flattened dark grayish fibers, not sticky or slimy, often scaly in age, pale to dark gray or brownish gray when young, sometimes developing yellowish or ochre tints in age; flesh whitish with dark yellow-brown around larval tunnels, unchanging or staining dingy red or brown when cut or bruised, staining bluish gray in FeSO₄; odor and taste not distinctive.

PORE SURFACE: whitish to grayish or clingy gray-brown, not yellow, unchanging or staining brownish or gray when bruised; pores circular, 1-2 per mm.

STALK: (4-14.5 cm) long, (1-3.5 cm) thick, equal or tapering downward, often curved near the base, solid, whitish or grayish when young, developing yellow tones from the base upwards as it matures, sometimes with reddish stains; surface covered overall with a coarse pale to yellowish reticulum that becomes brownish to blackish in age; partial veil and ring absent.

SPORE PRINT: olive-brown to yellow-brown.

MICROSCOPIC FEATURES: spores 9-13 x 3-5 μm, oblong, smooth, pale brown.

FRUITING: solitary to scattered on the ground in mixed hardwoods, especially under oaks; June-September; occasional.

EDIBILITY: edible.

From Mushrooms of Northeastern North America Alan E. Bessette, Arleen R. Bessette, & David W. Fischer  Copright © 1997 Syracuse University, ISBN 0-8156-0388-6