‘Leccinum insigne’ aspen scaber stalk

[Dig]

I found this beauty within 5 minutes of hunting... then no others of a similar type haha.  There are so many very similar types I have a hard time determining species.

This was growing in a dense grove of aspen underneath a baby conifer.  It was roughly 6 across with a 3-4 bulbous stalk (more then the pic shows) .  It had zero bugs, so I assume it was really fresh.  I was there 2 weeks ago and it wasn’t up yet.  Cap was also slightly more orange/red then photo shows.  It had a pleasant nutty/buttery smell.  It lightly bruises brown with a very small hint of violet.

I am currently trying to take a spore print.

[Dave W]

This looks like what has traditionally been called Leccinum insigne in North America. Not sure about whether this species name is currently being questioned. But, yest, this looks like the orange-capped aspen-associate Scaber Stalk. I have never experienced a problem eating Leccinum. But, there have been reports of people having pretty bad reactions to one or more of the red/orange-capped ones. So, I recommend caution, and thorough cooking. My method of preparation of Scaber Stalk mushrooms is to slice fairly thin and fry in butter until they begin to get a little crispy/crumbly. I salt them while frying. Like this they turn out somewhat like bacon. Also, unless the mushroom is very young --with white/tight pores-- I remove the layer of tubes before cooking, as the texture of the tube layer tends to cook up kinda slimy. 

[Dig]

The spore print failed.  Thanks for the caution about possible side effects.