Species details
Le Gal's bolete
Rubroboletus legaliae
Poisonous
Photo: Lukas from London, England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo source · License
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Description
A poisonous bolete with a pale to pink-grey cap, red pores and a yellow-red stem.
Identification features
The flesh blues, and mature specimens may develop a characteristic chicory-like or herbal smell.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A poisonous bolete with a pale to pink-grey cap, red pores and a yellow-red stem. The flesh blues, and mature specimens may develop a characteristic chicory-like or herbal smell. Typical habitat: Warm deciduous woodland on rich or calcareous soils.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 6–18 cm, hemispherical to broadly convex, initially whitish, later grey-pink to pale reddish, often mottled.
- Hymenophore
- Tubes yellow; pores orange-red to red and bruise blue.
- Stem
- 5–12 cm tall, very stout; yellow to orange-yellow with a red reticulum, sometimes wine-red toward the base.
- Flesh
- Yellow, staining pale blue when cut; the lower stem may be dark wine-red.
- Smell
- In mature specimens it may resemble chicory, hay or soup seasoning.
- Spore print
- Olive-brown.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 6–18 cm
- Stem height
- 5–12 cm
- Stem diameter
- 3–7 cm
Habitat
Warm deciduous woodland on rich or calcareous soils.
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 warm broadleaved woodland, often with oak and beech, on neutral to acidic soils.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Rubroboletus satanas, 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.
Similar species
- Rosy bolete (Rubroboletus rhodoxanthus) DANGEROUS
Rubroboletus rhodoxanthus usually has a paler pink cap and an even more strongly red-reticulate stem.
- Satan's bolete (Rubroboletus satanas) DANGEROUS
Satan’s bolete is usually whiter-grey on the cap and has a different distribution of red and yellow tones on the stem.
Interesting facts
Did you know? The characteristic smell of mature fruitbodies can be a useful additional clue, but it never replaces morphological examination.