Species details

Bitter beech bolete

Caloboletus calopus

Inedible
Bitter beech bolete – Caloboletus calopus

Photo: Tomasz Sobczak · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo source · License

Description

A colourful bolete with a pale cap, yellow pores and a yellow-red reticulate stem.

Identification features

The flesh often blues when cut; strong bitterness makes the species inedible.

Identification checklist

Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A colourful bolete with a pale cap, yellow pores and a yellow-red reticulate stem. The flesh often blues when cut; strong bitterness makes the species inedible. Typical habitat: Mainly deciduous and mixed woodland on base-rich soils, often with beech.

How to separate similar species

Compare especially with these similar species: Rubroboletus satanas, Suillellus luridus, Rubroboletus rhodoxanthus. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.

Habitat

Mainly deciduous and mixed woodland on base-rich soils, often with beech.

Fruiting period

June, July, August, September, October

Similar species

Extended-description sources