Boletus Varipes and variant?

[shroomersue]

Found some nice hefty boletes under oak/white pine mix. They all had that big fat stipe like an edulis type. Did the taste test on all, no bitter ones. I see two varieties here. The lighter caps me thinks are Boletus varipes, the 4 brown capped red brown stem ones were found alongside the others. Sporing off brown onto each other. Am I close?

[Dave W]

At least close, Sue. And with these edulis types, sometimes "close" is as good as it gets. But for culinary purposes, close is good enough!

Light colored ones look like B. variipes. B. atkinsonii is another possibility. Sometimes B. separans lacks purplish/tan/violet tones on the stalk, which makes it difficult to distinguish from the ones with white stalks. B. nobilis is another one. All of these are primarily hardwood associates. But I have found separans in areas with lots of hemlock, and variipes in mixed oak/hemlock.

Given the presence of pine, I would also consider B. subcaerulescens for the ones with reddish-brown color on the cap and/or stalk. Sometimes the faint bluing associated with subcaerulescens is either difficult to observe, or completely absent.

All species mentioned are excellent edibles, especially sliced/dehydrated and then revived for soup/sauce/risotto.

[shroomersue]

Thanks Dave, I am grateful for knowledge on boletes, which is a new category of exploration! Can't wait to try them.

[shroomersue]

Hereis an in situ pic of one of those boletes. Love the terrain it was found in.