Figure 310.—Boletus castaneus. One-half natural size.
Figure 311.—Boletus castaneus.
Castaneus, pertaining to a chestnut. The pileus is dry, convex, then expanded, minutely velvety; cinnamon or reddish-brown, from one to three inches in diameter; the flesh white, not changing when bruised, cap frequently turned upward.
The tube-surface is white, becoming yellow, tubes small and short, free from the stem.
The stem is equal or tapering upward, colored and clothed like the cap, short and not always straight; when young it is spongy in the center but becomes hollow with age. The spores are pale-yellow, oval or broadly elliptical, which is a feature to distinguish the species.
I found a number of specimens in James Dunlap's woods, near Chillicothe, Ohio. A great majority seemed to be attacked by the parasitic fungi, Sepedonium chrysospermum.