Pseudoboletus parasiticus    (Bull.:Fr.) Šutara 

common name(s) : Parasitic Bolete 

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

synonyms: Boletus parasiticus, Xerocomus parasiticus 

edibility : discard

photo gallery of  Pseudoboletus parasiticus
photo gallery of  Pseudoboletus parasiticus potential confusions with  Pseudoboletus parasiticus toxicity of Pseudoboletus parasiticus genus Pseudoboletus  

The cap is pale yellow to yellow-brown with an olivaceous tinge, fleshy, hemispherical then convex to expanded, sometimes a bit depressed. The cap surface is matt, dry, shiny, downy, almost always cracked when drying into patches, showing the yellow flesh underneath. The cap margin is thick, inrolled and regular.

The stem is short, full and fibrous, without network, cylindrical or spindle-shaped, curved and with a pointy base inserted in the host. It is pale yellow then orange-yellow in its lower half, with longitudinal streaks and brown flakes at the top..

The flesh is firm and thick, pale lemon yellow (reddish in the stem base). It is unchanging when cut and exposed to air; its taste is faint and mild; the odour is weak;

The tubes are adnate, decurrent-gilled at the top, not easily removed from cap, very short (3-7mm). They are lemon yellow then tinted with rusty brown.

The pores are rather large (1-1,5mm), simple or more or less composed (containing smaller pores inside), round, lemon yellow or golden yellow to reddish then dark brown, not turning blue when pressed. The spore print is olive-brown to tobacco-brown.

It grows in the woods, exclusively parasiting sclerodermas (usually the Common Earthball). It comes solitary or in tufts of up to a dozen individuals parasiting the same scleroderma. It is more frequent in southern countries, on a rather acid and sandy soil.

The fruiting period takes place from July to November.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 5 cm (between 2 and 8 cm)
  height of stem approximately 5 cm (between 1 and 15 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 9 mm (between 5 and 15 mm)
  spores : 14-16 x 3-4,5 microns, spindle-shaped, very elongated

Chemical tests : flesh becomes brown when in contact with ammonia.

Distinctive features : the only parasitic bolete (on Scleroderma, also known as earthballs)

Pseudoboletus parasiticus is quite rare and scattered in the forest of Rambouillet, and is infrequent, more generally speaking .
here should be the distribution map of Pseudoboletus parasiticus in the forest of Rambouillet
Above : distribution map of Pseudoboletus parasiticus in the forest of Rambouillet



page updated on 14/01/18