Leccinum melaneum (Blackish Birch Bolete)

Leccinum melaneum

Damp, grassy birch woods, mixed forests, pine forests with birch. Summer, autumn.

Cap 5—15 cm across, round, eventually convex-horizontal, softly velvety, felt-like, blackish-brown, dirty greyish-blackish, fleshy. Tubes white, when old greyish-cream in colour. Stem 7—10 (13)x1—4 cm, coarsely black-fibrous, thickening towards the base. Flesh white, yellowish under the cuticle, thick, firm, not changing colour when cut. Characteristic features: massive, gloomy-looking, blackish fruiting bodies. Edible. Grows in deciduous and mixed forests, under birches, singly or in small groups. Rare.