The cracks in the cap become yellow, on which account this species is called the Yellow-cracked Boletus. The taste of the flesh is sweet and agreeable. Palmer compares it with the taste of a walnut. The plant should not be feared because the flesh turns blue when bruised. I first found this species in Whinnery's woods, Salem, Ohio. The specimens in Figure 284 grew near Chillicothe and was photographed by Dr. Kellerman. July to August.
Boletus chrysenteron. Fr.
The Red-cracked Boletus. Edible.
Figure 285.—Boletus chrysenteron. One-half natural size. Caps yellowish to red. Flesh yellow.
Chrysenteron means gold or golden within. The pileus is two to four inches broad, convex, becoming more flattened, soft to the touch, varying from light to yellowish-brown or bright brick-red, more or less fissured with red cracks; the flesh yellow, changing to blue when bruised or cut, red immediately beneath the cuticle.
The tube surface is olive-yellow, becoming bluish when bruised, tube-openings rather large, angled and unequal in size.
The stem is generally stout, straight, yellowish, and more or less streaked or spotted with the color of the cap. The spores are light brown and spindle-shaped. This species will be easily distinguished from B. subtomentosus because of its bright color and the cracks in the cap turning red, whence the name of the "Red-cracked Boletus."
The cap of this species strongly resembles Boletus alveolatus, but the latter has rose-colored spores and a red pore surface, while the former has light brown spores and an olive-yellow pore surface. Tolerton's and Bower's woods, Salem, Ohio, July to October.