Orange Birch Boletes ?

[Lone Forager]

Hi, I am a bit of a new starter. I keep finding on the local common a leccinum versipelle look alike with dirty brownish stem and reddy brown cap. Where the cap has pits there is sometimes a deep solid red colour present but this doesn't appear on cutting it. Could it be l.quercinum or l. aurantiacum ? are there any non edible look alikes ?

[Fungus Ken]

The concepts of the species in Leccinum have recently undergone a revision based on DNA research with the result that various names have changed and some species that were split at the last revision have been put back together into one species.

Here's a link to some more up to date information on the web:

leccinum in Europa - engels

The species with a Fox-red to brick or even chestnut coloured cap is now called Leccinum aurantiacum which includes what was called L. quercinum and L. salicicola. This has white squamules on the stem when very young but these quickly turn deep reddish-brown and then to almost blackish. This broader concept of the species means that you can find it growing with a wide range of trees, usually oak or aspen but also birch, beech, lime and even willow.

Have a look at the pictures on the linked site but I'd guess from your description that this is what you are finding.

There is also L. albostipitatum which grows with Populus but this has a brighter orange cap and the stem starts off pure white and never darkens as much as in L. aurantiacum.

Ken

[Lone Forager]

Thanks Fungus Ken, a really usefull page. Is there any reason that I haven't seen a boletus edulis all year ? I have found many suillus variagatus and bovinus and brown birch boletes and even a few bay boletes. Also the bay boletes found in heather seem to be a lighter brown than those found in the open although they both bruise blue. Is this a variation ? Thanks for your help again.

[NickCantle]

Been a bad year for Edulis in my opinion...

[Leif]

Originally Posted by Fungus Ken

Here's a link to some more up to date information on the web:

leccinum in Europa - engels

That's a useful link. I would not be surprised if other genera will see such turmoil. Hygrocybe seems to be a bit of a nightmare although Boertmann seems to have clarified the matter, at least for me. So many species are separated on what seem to be small differences, often at the microscopic level.