Why did/do boletes hate Pennsylvania this year?

[Yergaderga]

Greetings!

So I have found a lot of mushrooms this year, but the overwhelming majority of edible ones have been chanterelles. The past two years that I've mushroomed in the summer I've found more boletes than I did this mushroom season so far, where the boletes were very sporadic, and usually not very large. I actually have found clusters of suillus of some kind and some kind of bolete as well in my yard, but I don't know if I've seen a single cluster of two or more at a given spot in the mountains this year. Any ideas? I suspect the rain had something to do with it. 

Thanks for your opinions and knowledge!

[Evan]

This has been one of the wettest summer's ever in PA. I'm not a bolete expert, but I think that might be the problem. More moisture means more bugs, more mold and faster decomposition 

[Yergaderga]

I think you're right. I have a theory that it could also do with the chanterelles. They were SO plentiful this year. Maybe they were out-competing other mushrooms species. That's just my theory though. I'm no expert in mushroom biology. 

[The Mushroom Whisperer]

I believe that the chanterelle gang and the bolete gang are rivals, and I heard the chanterelles drove the boletes out of PA.  Something to do with some fun guy having a mycorhizzahizal relationship with another fun guys tree....

[Yergaderga]

Ideally I'd try to come up with some puns to complement that post but it's a work of art in and of itself. I fold.

[The Mushroom Whisperer]

4 hours ago, Yergaderga said:

Ideally I'd try to come up with some puns to complement that post but it's a work of art in and of itself. I fold.

Lol!

[Staveshaver]

Here in Western Pa, Butler county, I've found plenty of Boletes this year... A lot actually. It's been a great year for everything here that I hunt... except Morels. I found a few, but nothing to write home about.

[Yergaderga]

That's odd. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Maybe I should check the hemlock forests instead.

[Buckethead]

On 10/9/2018 at 4:08 PM, Staveshaver said:

Here in Western Pa, Butler county, I've found plenty of Boletes this year... A lot actually. It's been a great year for everything here that I hunt... except Morels. I found a few, but nothing to write home about.

Same here in Mercer Co. I found quite a few boletes and the chanterelles were off the hook this year. Morels were spotty. Its been a great year for hens so far. 

[Dave W]

Just now noticed this discussion from awhile back.

Some of the summer bolete species --in particular Boletus separans, Baornagia bicolor-- had a down year around here in 2018. Mycorrhizal mushrooms seem to ebb/flow in annual cycles. I think the fungus may need to achieve necessary energy requirements in order to produce mushrooms, and sometimes this process gets stuck on low energy for part of a year, or maybe even a few years running. Certainly, availability of moisture is always a key ingredient. But other factors seem to apply. It's part of the challenge... at any given time finding the mushrooms that are ready.

I got really nice collections of B. edulis this past September into early October. 

[Yergaderga]

On 11/25/2018 at 10:57 PM, Dave W said:

Just now noticed this discussion from awhile back.

Some of the summer bolete species --in particular Boletus separans, Baornagia bicolor-- had a down year around here in 2018. Mycorrhizal mushrooms seem to ebb/flow in annual cycles. I think the fungus may need to achieve necessary energy requirements in order to produce mushrooms, and sometimes this process gets stuck on low energy for part of a year, or maybe even a few years running. Certainly, availability of moisture is always a key ingredient. But other factors seem to apply. It's part of the challenge... at any given time finding the mushrooms that are ready.

I got really nice collections of B. edulis this past September into early October. 

Thanks for the help Dave! Hopefully next year. It would have been nice to go up to the mountains more while it was still warm enough for mushrooms and look for hens and such, but college is in session.

[Staveshaver]

I'm not good at distinguishing between the boletes, just beginning with them, so I'm not even sure what they were exactly. Dry, velvety tan on top, white underneath, under red oaks, sometimes within sight of where I'd found chanterelles a month earlier.

[bobby b]

That looks like Gyroporus castaneus. If it is, Kuo rates it as excellent for the table. I don't remember if I ever consumed it. Lots of boletes in northern Allegheny County this year. There were some big flushes that I identified as B. pseudosensibilis.  One of the club members called them bicolors and bagged lots of them. I didn't try them.

[Dave W]

Steve, your bolete looks like Boletus separans. If correct, the flesh/pores should not stain or bruise and the flesh should taste mild (not bitter). This type sometimes has a reticulate stalk surface (netting on the stalk surface, may be very fine), but not always. 

Bobby, I agree your bolete looks like Lanmaoa pseudosensibilis (formerly in genus Boletus). Except, I don't see any staining/bruising on it. This species bruises  blue very easily, especially on the pore surface. If it did indeed fail to bruise/stain, then maybe look at genus Auriboletus. Very likely not Baorangia bicolor, as the way the pores/tubes attach to the stem (recessed) is wrong for bicolor. 

Neither of the boletes seen in the last two posts represent Gyroporus castaneus. 

[bobby b]

The one I called pseudosensibilis did bruise blue. They were nice looking until I handled them.  Large flushes August into September. 

Suillus was mostly absent this year, at least in the conifers I visit. Several Leccinum species were common this year. It stains black. rugosiceps?

Edited December 12, 2018 by bobby b
extra letters after photo

[bobby b]

Here's another bolete that was common this past July and August in Western PA. Sometimes the cap was lumpy and irregular but sometimes it was smooth and convex. Called it Tylopilus alboater. Some people love it.