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What the story on Leccinum?


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Bill Russell in his guide says

”Ignore the older and many current guidebooks, including my first book, that say certain Leccinum species are edible. Currently, authorities warn us not to eat any Leccinum species until further studies confirm that they are safe”

Is this still the case?  What happened to make this change?

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There have been reports over the past decade or so of people getting sick from consuming Leccinum. As far as I know, these reports are from western NA and Michigan. The suspected mushrooms are red (orange?) capped types(s). This is the reason why authors or filed guides are proceeding with caution when it comes to recommending Leccinum mushrooms for the table. I can offer a few ideas about this... but none of my ideas have been tested. 

Here are a few reasons to possibly explain this problem (none of which are considered a definitive explanation). 

1. The stems of Leccinum mushrooms tend to be rather fibrous. If not thoroughly cooked, the substance may be be difficult to digest.

2. In western NA there is a particularly dense-fleshed red-capped Leccinum, L. fibrillosum, that may be particularly difficult to digest. (I have cooked/eaten this type.) 

3. Leccinum species in NA are currently undergoing revision. Perhaps there is a species that is probelmatic? 

My wife and I continue to eat Leccinum mushrooms. I always slice the material thinly and fry until crisp. I actually like them best this way. Well salted the result is not unlike bacon. Please note, given the uncertain status of the edibility of Leccinum, if you choose to cook/eat these types of mushrooms, this would be your own decision. I am not recommending them. I am simply reporting my own experience, which does not include any problems. 

L. fibrillosum    772565122_LeccinumfibrillosumNeihart8-6A1.jpg.4b02fd03cc7c1e3fa7e27816a97ee908.jpg

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Thanks Dave. I was curious because I compiled a bolete spreadsheet for my own education based primarily on Bessette’s Boletes of Eastern North America. But I crosswalked it with Sturgeon’s Appalachian Mushrooms, and Roger Phillips’ book.  Leccinum has caught my eye ( along with Sillius) as boletes I might want to target as a beginner. 

In the spreadsheet, I listed common name, Latin name, all the Latin names it has been identified as, spore color, habitat it’s found in, how common it is, it’s lookalikes (I noted edibilty, poisonous and unknown) and page in each of the three books. 

I did this for edible boletes only (excluding 2 or 3 that reportedly tasted unpleasant), and only those whose range included central Pennsylvania. 

I think including Leccinum, I came up with about 92 species 

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The best edible eastern NA boletes are the Kings... Boletus edulis, B. separans, B. variipes, B. nobilis, B. nobilissimus, and a few other similar species. The King Boletes are really good when dehydrated and then rehydrated for use in soup, sauce, or risotto. I like the red-capped Leccinum types when fresh. Like I wrote earlier, I slice them thinly and fry in butter until brown and crisp. The flesh turns dark gray to black when they first start to cook in the skillet. I'm not all that fond of Suillus, except for S. spraguei (formerly S. pictus). S. ganulatus (actually now S. weaverae) is okay. But most of the Suillus species have sticky/slimy caps and peeling the cap cuticle off is recommended (before cooking). Baorangia bicolor (formerly Boleteus bicolor; aka Two Color Bolete) is a very good edible, but there are a few look-alike species that should be learned.

There's a mushroom club in central PA http://www.centralpamushroomclub.com/ and another in western PA https://wpamushroomclub.org/ .

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  • 4 weeks later...

I second Dave's opinion of leccinums. I have eaten them for 40 years and have never had a problem but the decision is yours to make. In my area, the Eastern Europeans eat a lot of them and I have never heard of anyone being poisoned.

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No problems in Northwest Ontario...north of Minnesota.

Their Latin and Common names are highly variable in different books.

But we eat what I call...Birch (Grey), Aspen (insigne), Orange.

Plus  anything else that has the spotted stipe and porous fertile surface of a typical Leccinum even if we can't put an accurate name to it. Yeah I know that sounds unsafe but...

Never any problem and local lore for Northwest Ontario... there are no poisonous boletes in our area.

 

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I don't know how far north and west its range extends, but Boletus huronensis is a bolete that has caused some seriously bad reactions when eaten. It's uncommon. I've found it only once, in Maine. It is reported as occurring in Canada. https://www.mycoquebec.org/bas.php?trie=B&l=l&nom=Boletus huronensis / Bolet de Huronie&tag=Boletus huronensis&gro=5

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  • 4 weeks later...

Same what Trout said, I have ansestors back in Russia and Belarus that have consumed Leccinums for generations. Pictures of these mushrooms are in folklore and history. We always take some if found fresh. Sauteed in butter like any regular mushrooms. Stalks can be tough like Dave mentioned. We sautee stalks first, then the caps. Most of the times caps are brown and light brown to pale brown. Only once found the orange red capped.

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