COMMON NAME: Ornate-stalked Bolete.

CAP: (4-16 cm) wide, convex, becoming nearly flat; surface dry, velvety, color variable, pale gray to purplish gray, yellow, olive, yellow-brown, or olive-brown, often darkest at the center with yellow at the margin; flesh yellow, not blueing when cut or bruised; odor not distinctive; taste slightly to very bitter or sometimes mild.

PORE SURFACE: lemon-yellow, staining brighter yellow, orange-yellow, or orange-brown when cut or bruised; pores circular, 1-2 per mm.

STALK: (8-15.5 cm) long, (1-2.5 cm) thick, equal to slightly enlarged downward, solid, bright yellow, often developing brown tones in age, with coarse, raised reticulation often extending to the base, staining darker orange-yellow when bruised; partial veil and ring absent.

SPORE PRINT: olive-brown to dark yellow-brown.

MICROSCOPIC FEATURES: spores 9-13 x 3-4 μm, oblong to slightly ventricose with apex obtuse, smooth, pale brown.

FRUITING: solitary to caespitose on the ground near or under oak, beech, and other hardwoods, and along roadbanks; June-September; fairly common.

EDIBILITY: edible to inedible; some collections may be very bitter.

COMMENTS: Boletus retipes has been used as a synonym by some authors, while others reserve this name for smaller specimens with a powdery, yellow cap.

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