Habitat & Distribution: Found in copses and woods containing birch trees, or even accompanying solitary birches.
General Information: This fungus is recognised by the pale brown cap, the white, unchanging or hardly changing flesh and the cap-margin not overhanging the tubes. There are several closely related fungi which also grow with birch trees but they need some experience in order to distinguish them. This fungus was formerly placed in the genus Boletus, indeed it will be found in many books under this name. Species of Leccinum are edible and considered delicacies in continental Europe. The majority can be separated from the other fleshy fungi with pores beneath the cap, i.e. boletes, by the black to brown scaly stem and rather long, elongate spores. The scales on the stem give rise to the common name ‘Rough stalks’ which is applied to this whole group of fungi.
Illustrations: F 39C; Hvass 253; LH 122; NB 1556; WD 891.
Suillus grevillei (Klotzsch) Singer Larch-bolete
Cap: width 30-100 mm. Stem: width 15-20 mm; length 50-70 mm.
Description: [Plate 2].
Cap: convex or umbonate at first, later expanding and then becoming plano-convex, golden-yellow or rich orange-brown, very slimy because of the presence of a pale yellow sticky fluid.
Stem: apex reddish and dotted or ornamented with a fine network, cream-coloured about the centre because of the presence of a ring which soon collapses, ultimately appearing only as a pale yellow zone; below the ring the stem is yellowish or rusty brown, particularly when roughly handled.
Tubes: adnate to decurrent, deep yellow but becoming flushed wine-coloured on exposure to the air, with angular and small sulphur-yellow pores which become pale pinkish brown to lilaceous or pale wine-coloured when handled.
Flesh: with no distinctive smell, pale yellow immediately flushing lilaceous when exposed to the air, but finally becoming dingy red-brown, sometimes blue or green in the stem-base.