Suillus viscidus    (L.) Roussel 

common name(s) : Sticky Bolete, Larch Bolete2 

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

synonyms: Boletus viscidus, Suillus aeruginascens, Boletus aeruginascens, Suillus laricinus 

edibility : discard

potential confusions with  Suillus viscidus toxicity of Suillus viscidus genus Suillus  

The cap is grey-white, grey-brown to hazelnut or yellow brown, with greenish shades, fleshy, hemispherical, then convex and finally a bit flattened, sometimes slightly umbonate or depressed. The cap surface is smooth, shiny, very slimy when damp, fibrillose when dry. It is marked with small wrinkles, and is thin and easily peelable. The cap margin is smooth, thin, with white remnants of the veil (young specimens), and inrolled for a long time.

The stem is firm, full, more or less hollow when ageing, often curved. It is cylinder shaped, often slightly swollen towards its base, slimy under the ring. Its colour is whitish to yellowish, then blue-green with sometimes a kind of grey network above the ring. The ring is creamy-grey above, ochre to red-brown underneath, membranous and ascending, fragile and short-lived. It initially links the stem to the cap margin in young specimens. It is whitish then quickly evolves to a black-brown ring zone, stuck to the stem..

The flesh is thick, soft and spongy in the cap, fibrous in the stem. It is white, rather yellowish in the stem, turning faintly to blue or green when exposed to air, mostly in the stem. It is greenish yellow in the stem base; its taste is faint and mild; the odour is weak, pleasant and fruity;

The tubes are adnate then slightly decurrent, rather short (6-10 mm), easily removed from cap. They are greyish white, with shades of olivaceous yellow then brown grey.

The pores are large (1mm and more), angular and irregular, composed (with smaller pores inside), pale beige then grey, eventually purple brown, darkening a bit to greenish when pressed. The spore print is tobacco brown.

It grows in pathsides or wood edges, more often in the mountains, on a rather calcareous and sometimes acid soil, exclusively associated to larch.

The fruiting period takes place from June to December.
Dimensions: width of cap approximately 7 cm (between 3 and 15 cm)
  height of stem approximately 8 cm (between 4 and 10 cm)
  thickness of stem (at largest section) approximately 13 mm (between 5 and 22 mm)
  spores : 8-11 x 4-5 microns, spindle-shaped to ellipsoid

Distinctive features : slimy cap, staining blue-green; only with larch toucher

Suillus viscidus is still unreported so far in the forest of Rambouillet, and is quite rare, more generally speaking .



page updated on 14/01/18