Penny bun

Identification checklist

Check the whole fruitbody: a brown, often slightly greasy cap; pores white when young, becoming yellow-olive; and a stout pale stem with a white net, especially near the top. The white flesh normally does not turn blue when cut.

Detailed features

Cap

The cap is initially hemispherical, later convex and cushion-shaped in older fruitbodies. Its surface varies through shades of brown, is often paler near the margin, and may be slightly greasy or tacky when moist.

Hymenophore

The fertile surface is made of tubes. It is whitish when young, later yellow, and becomes olive green with age. The tube layer separates fairly easily from the cap flesh.

Stem

The stem is stout to swollen when young, later more club-shaped or nearly cylindrical. It is solid, pale to brownish, and typically bears a pale net-like reticulation, especially on the upper part.

Flesh

The flesh is white and firm and normally does not turn blue when cut. Just beneath the cap skin it may show a slight brownish tint.

Smell

The smell is pleasant but not distinctive enough to identify the species on its own.

Taste

The taste is regarded as pleasant. Tasting wild mushrooms should not be used as an identification test.

Spore print

Olive-brown.

Ecology

Trophic mode

Mycorrhizal

Host trees

Spruce (Picea), Beech (Fagus), Oak (Quercus)

Notes

The species forms ectomycorrhiza with trees. It occurs in coniferous, deciduous, and mixed woodland; common partners include spruce, beech, and oak.

Distribution

Notes

Boletus edulis is a European species. Records outside Europe require taxonomic caution because some may represent related species within the B. edulis complex.

Similar species

• Bitter bolete (Tylopilus felleus)

  Bitter bolete develops pinkish pores and usually a darker, coarser stem net. It is intensely bitter, but tasting is not a safe identification test.

• Summer bolete (Boletus reticulatus)

  Summer bolete usually has a drier, velvety cap that may crack in dry weather and more extensive reticulation over the stem.

• Bronze bolete (Boletus aereus)

  Bronze bolete usually has a very dark, dry, velvety cap that is not greasy or sticky.

Interesting facts

Did you know? The species was described in 1782 by Jean Baptiste François Bulliard. The Latin epithet edulis means “edible”, and Boletus edulis is the type species of the genus Boletus.