COMMON NAME: Parasitic Bolete.

CAP: (2-8 cm) wide, convex, becoming broadly convex; surface dry, nearly smooth, evenly olive to tawny-olive; margin incurved when young; flesh pale lemon-yellow, not blueing when bruised, instantly orange-ochre in KOH; odor and taste not distinctive.

PORE SURFACE: yellowish to ochre or olive-brown, not staining blue or brown when bruised, but sometimes staining ochraceous to reddish; pores angular, 1-2 mm wide.

STALK: (3-6 cm) long, (6-13 mm) thick, nearly equal, yellowish or colored like the cap, usually curved, solid; partial veil and ring absent.

SPORE PRINT: olive-brown.

MICROSCOPIC FEATURES: spores 12-18.5 x 3.5-5 μm, elliptic, smooth, pale brown.

FRUITING: solitary or in small groups on fruiting bodies of the earthball, Scleroderma citrinum; July-September; occasional to fairly common.

EDIBILITY: edible.

COMMENTS: this is an easy bolete to identify because it fruits only on the Common Earthball. The bolete is edible, but its host is poisonous.

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