| Major Groups > Boletes > Boletus > Chalciporus piperatus |
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Chalciporus piperatus [ Basidiomycetes > Boletales > Boletaceae > Chalciporus . . . ] by Michael Kuo This drab little bolete has several features that combine to make it fairly easy to identify: dull reddish brown to pinkish tan colors; a brownish-reddish pore surface that bruises darker brown but not blue; bright yellow basal mycelium on the stem; and a very peppery taste. It is almost always found under conifers, and is fairly widely distributed in North America. Edibility is not reliably established for Chalciporus piperatus, and it is unappetizing, anyway; do not experiment. Description: Ecology: Mycorrhizal with conifers (perhaps rarely with hardwoods); growing alone, scattered, or gregariously; summer and fall; fairly widely distributed, at least in northern and western North America. Cap: 2-5 cm (rarely larger, to 10 cm); convex, becoming broadly convex; sticky when fresh, but soon dry; smooth; dull reddish brown to dull pinkish tan, fading to tan. Pore Surface: Cinnamon brown to reddish brown, becoming dull coppery reddish at maturity; bruising brown; usually with 1-2 pores per mm; tubes to 1 cm deep; often with wide pores near the stem that create fine lines at the stem apex. Specimens are sometimes collected with contorted pores that are almost gill-like. Stem: 2-8 cm long; up to 1.5 cm thick; more or less equal; dry; solid; colored like the cap; smooth; base with bright yellow mycelium. Flesh: Yellowish to pinkish in the cap; brighter yellow in the stem; not staining on exposure, or staining brownish to grayish. Odor and Taste: Odor not distinctive; taste strongly peppery. Chemical Reactions: Cap surface gray to dark reddish brown with KOH; dull olive to dark reddish brown with ammonia; negative to greenish with iron salts. Flesh gray to purplish gray with KOH; negative to pinkish or purplish gray with ammonia; negative to greenish with iron salts. Spore Print: Brown to reddish brown. Microscopic Features: Spores 8-11 x 4-5 µ; smooth; subfusoid. Cystidia fusoid to fusoid-ventricose; to about 60 x 15 µ. Pileipellis a tangled layer of cylindric elements 10-20 µ wide; terminal elements with rounded to subacute apices. Boletus piperatus and Suillus piperatus are synonyms. REFERENCES: (Bulliard, 1790) Bataille, 1908. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo, 1888; Coker & Beers, 1943; Snell & Dick, 1970; Smith & Thiers, 1971; Thiers, 1975; Grund & Harrison, 1976; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Both, 1993; Evenson, 1997; Barron, 1999; Bessette, Roody & Bessette, 2000; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006.) Herb. Kuo 08140703. Further Online Information: Boletus piperatus in Smith & Thiers, 1971 |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2007, December). Chalciporus piperatus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/chalciporus_piperatus.html |