The whole plant often reclines as if for support, Peck, Boleti of the U.S.
B. parasi´ticus Bull.—a parasite. Pileus convex or nearly plane, dry, silky, becoming glabrous, soon tessellately cracked, grayish or dingy-yellow. Tubes decurrent, medium size, golden yellow. Stem equal, rigid, incurved, yellow without and within. Spores oblong-fusiform, pale-brown, 12.5–15×4µ.
Pileus 1–2 in. broad. Stem 1–2 in. long, 2–4 lines thick.
Parasitic on species of Scleroderma. New York, Gerard; New England, Sprague, Bennett.
This species is very rare in this country. It is remarkable for its peculiar habitat. Peck, Boleti of the U.S.
New York, Lydia M. Patchen; Westfield, on Scleroderma vulgare.
I found many specimens of this rare species during August, 1897, growing on Scleroderma vulgare.
Professor Peck, to whom I sent specimens, identified them as B. parasiticus. The tubes were large, unequal, dissepiments thin, decurrent. The Sclerodermas frequently appear to be parasitic upon the Boletus. I have seen the host plant thrown entirely free from the ground by the Boletus.
B. parasiticus is edible, but it is not of agreeable flavor.
B. dictyoceph´alus Pk.—reticulate. Pileus convex, glabrous, reticulate with brown lines beneath the thin separable cuticle, brownish-orange, darker in the center and there tinged with pink. Flesh white, unchangeable. Tubes nearly plane, slightly depressed around the stem, grayish-yellow, becoming brown where bruised. Stem equal or slightly tapering at the top, solid, rimose, dotted with scales, lemon-yellow, darker toward the base. Spores 15–20×6µ.