Birch bolete

Identification checklist

Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A grey-brown bolete with a whitish stem covered in dark rough scales, usually with birch. The pores are pale at first and the stem is not netted. Old specimens become soft; Leccinum identification requires checking the host tree and colour changes. Typical habitat: Mycorrhizal with birch in woodland, parks, bogs, and other birch habitats.

Detailed features

Cap

5–10 cm, grey-brown to brown, dry, initially somewhat velvety and later smoother.

Hymenophore

Tubes and pores are white when young, later greyish; they do not usually bruise blue.

Stem

8–15 × 1–2 cm, whitish, long and cylindrical, densely covered with brown to black rough scabers.

Flesh

Whitish to greyish; may become faintly pink-grey when cut but characteristically does not blue.

Smell

Mild mushroom-like smell.

Spore print

Tobacco to olive-brown.

Ecology

Trophic mode

Mycorrhizal

Host trees

Birch (Betula)

Substrate

Forest soil

Notes

Mycorrhizal essentially with birch, in woodland, parks, bogs and other habitats where birch occurs.

Distribution

Notes

Widespread in Europe with birch and often common in suitable habitats.

Similar species

• Leccinum variicolor

  Mottled bolete usually has a more patchily coloured cap and can show stronger blue-green staining near the stem base.

Interesting facts

Did you know? The rough dark scabers on the pale stem are a characteristic feature of the genus Leccinum.