Lurid Bolete

Boletus luridus

Deciduous forests, parks with oak, linden, birch. Spring (rarely), summer, autumn.

Fruiting bodies robust, fleshy. Cap grows up to 20 cm across, velvety, brownish-grey, dirty, softly greenish-brown, with a faint yellowish tinge. Tubes up to 2 cm long, yellow; pores red, brownish-red. Stem massive, up to 15 cm long and 5 cm thick, orange-red, with a black, coarse network. Flesh yellowish, later yellow, turning blue when broken, then fading to bluish, not bitter. Characteristic features: the tubes and the flesh of the cap and stem turn blue when cut, later fading. Grows singly or in small groups. Likes light, grassy, calcareous places and the company of oak. Edible when well boiled, provided no alcoholic drinks are consumed. Not rare.