Chalciporus piperatus    (Bull.:Fr.) Bataille 

common name(s) : Peppery Bolete 

New classification: Basidiomycota/Agaricomycotina/Agaricomycetes/Agaricomycetidae/Boletales/Boletaceae  
Former classification: Basidiomycota/Homobasidiomycetes/Agaricomycetideae/Boletales/Boletaceae  

synonyms: Suillus piperatus, Boletus piperatus, Ixocomus piperatus 

edibility : discard

photo gallery of  Chalciporus piperatus
photo gallery of  Chalciporus piperatus potential confusions with  Chalciporus piperatus toxicity of Chalciporus piperatus genus Chalciporus  

The cap is pale cinnamon to ochre-brown or copper-red, thick, although small in size, hemispherical then convex, thick at the centre, finally expanded. The cap surface is smooth and shiny or matt, a bit sticky or viscid when damp, but soon drying and hardly peelable. The cap margin is thick, inrolled for a long time, then expanded.

The stem is thin, full, cylindrical or with a slightly tapering stem base, often curved or sinuate, fragile, concolorous to the cap, tawny-coppery, brown-yellow, bright yellow towards bottom. A yellow mycelium shows clearly at the stem base..

The flesh is thick, quite firm then spongy, bright lemon yellow in the stem, pale yellowish to red-brown in the cap (pink under the cap surface and the tubes), not turning to blue when exposed to air; its taste is peppery; the odour is weak, then peppery with age;

The tubes are adnate to decurrent, almost gilled close to the stem, not easily removed from cap, short (5-10mm), orange then cinnamon-brown, rusty when mature, not turning blue when exposed to air.

The pores are large (0,5-1mm), angular, yellow brown to rust, concolorous to tubes, darker than the cap, not turning blue when pressed. The spore print is cinnamon-brown.

It grows in coniferous forests, but it can also be found with broad-leaved trees, or in the grass of meadows, with heather, blueberries, rhododendrons, on a rather indifferent soil, under spruce, pine, birch, or associations such as pine-birch, also with beech, oak, poplar.

The fruiting period takes place from June to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 5 cm (between 1.5 and 12 cm)
  height of stem approximately 6 cm (between 1 and 10 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 12 mm (between 4 and 20 mm)
  spores : 7-13 x 3-5 microns, ellipsoid to almost spindle-shaped

Chemical tests : positive reaction to iron sulphate (flesh turns green).

Distinctive features : brown cap; viscous cap surface but not peelable; peppery taste; yellow mycelium; yellow flesh in stem

Chalciporus piperatus is infrequent and widely present in the forest of Rambouillet, and is occasional, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Chalciporus piperatus in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Chalciporus piperatus in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18