Species details
Iodine bolete
Hemileccinum impolitum
Extra caution required
Photo: czech_mushrooms · CC0 · Photo source · License
Description
A pale to grey-brown bolete with yellow pores and a stem lacking a clear net.
Identification features
The stem base often smells of iodine or phenol; the flesh does not blue or only weakly.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A pale to grey-brown bolete with yellow pores and a stem lacking a clear net. The stem base often smells of iodine or phenol; the flesh does not blue or only weakly. Typical habitat: Warm deciduous woodland, mainly with oak on calcareous soil.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 6–14 cm, ochre to brown, dry and velvety.
- Hymenophore
- Yellow tubes and pores that may turn slightly greenish when bruised.
- Stem
- 6–12 × 2–4 cm, yellow to yellowish, without reticulation, often reddish at the base.
- Flesh
- Pale yellow; may blue very weakly or remain unchanged.
- Smell
- A characteristic iodine or carbolic smell may be noticeable near the base.
- Spore print
- Olive-brown.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 6–14 cm
- Stem height
- 6–12 cm
- Stem diameter
- 2–4 cm
Habitat
Warm deciduous woodland, mainly with oak on calcareous soil.
Fruiting period
June, July, August, September, October
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Mycorrhizal
- Host trees
- Oak (Quercus), Beech (Fagus)
- Substrate
- Forest soil
- Notes
- A mycorrhizal species of deciduous and mixed woodland, often in warm sites.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Butyriboletus appendiculatus, Hemileccinum depilatum, Caloboletus radicans. 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.
Similar species
- Rooting bolete (Butyriboletus appendiculatus)
Has a clearly yellow-reticulate stem and often stronger blueing of the flesh.
- Depilated bolete (Hemileccinum depilatum)
The cap is often more irregularly depressed or wrinkled; reliable separation needs the full character combination.
- Rooting bolete (Caloboletus radicans)
Usually paler, strongly blueing, and distinctly bitter.