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Is this a Bolete?


Malthus

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Malthus, your profile lists your location as Canada. So, I guess I was assuming the mushroom was found not far from your home.

Here in eastern NA we have a handful of bolete species that are suspected of being toxic. These include (but are not limited to)... Boletus miniato-olivaceus, Boletus huronensis, Tylopilus griseocarneus, and Boletus bicoloroides. Additionally, there are a good number of boletes with very bitter flesh. If you don't lack the bitter taste buds, then one bitter bolete will ruin an entire meal. (Some people --only males I am told-- lack the bitter taste buds and may then eat at least some of the bitter types.) There's also a fair number of red/brown-pored boletes that have questionable edibility. It now appears that special preparation renders at least some of these types edible. "Satan's Boletes" --Boletus satanus-- is a red-pored bolete that has a very bad reputation. It has been reported from NA, but appears to be quite rare on this continent. (I believe I once saw one here in PA about 35 years ago.) 

Not sure about the existence of toxic bolete types on the west coast.

The "King Boletes" are all excellent edible types (as long as you get the mushrooms before the insects do). There's a west coast King Bolete that gets really large, Boletus edulis var. grandedulis. I think yours may be this type. 

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Dave,

Thanks again for your response. Very helpful. I found a few others that I cut open in the fall (pictures added) to find the darkening of the pores, which I believe is a good indicator that you've found edible (or even King) Bolete's. I'll spend more time this fall finding more and picking them to properly identify them. They are a mushroom that appears to grow in this area and I would love to add them to my repertoire of edible mushrooms as I understand they're quite delicious. 

If you can spare a moment, perhaps you could also weigh in on these two pictures and tell me what you think. Again, a mushroom I'm very keen to get to know, so your knowledge and time are greatly appreciated. 

2018-11-13 12.31.01.jpg

2018-11-13 12.31.10.jpg

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Mushroom(s) seen in the last two photos are well past prime, big blown-out boletes. Probably B. edulis var. grandedulis, although old mushrooms often lack distinctive ID characters. 

Lots of different types of boletes have pores/tubes that darken as the mushroom ages. 

I think you can probably learn to recognize this type of King Bolete. But, it's always advisable to learn to ID an edible mushroom by noting several traits associated with the type of mushroom. 

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Trout... Large bloated fruit body with soggy-looking cap surface (maybe it's just wet?). Flesh looks like it lacks density. Past prime... But like your Grandma would do, I slice and dry ones like this. I label them "Grade B" and use them exclusively in soup where the rehydrated mushrooms (and onions and celery) are pureed in a food processor. So, the flabby/soggy texture is not a factor. The soup is great!

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