August to November
Bitter bolete
Tylopilus felleus
Inedible
- Raw
- Raw consumption not applicable
- Cooking
- Cooking not applicable
- Review
- Do not consume
- Instruction
- Do not eat this species.
An inedible brown bolete identified by pores that turn coral-pink, a dark brown network and white flesh that does not turn blue.
View current conditions on the map
Guide contents
Guide contents
Season
Documented fruiting is concentrated from late summer into autumn, with an indicative period from August to November.
Habitat
Soil in broadleaf or mixed woodland, often beneath oaks and beeches, with a light layer of litter or moss.
Method
Check several visible features before retaining a species name.
Three features to check on the specimen.
Cream, then coral-pink pores
The small, crowded pores are cream on a young specimen, then become pale pink to coral-pink at maturity.
Dark brown network
The stout beige-brown stem, often broader at the base, has a clear, coarse, dominant dark brown network.
Unchanging white flesh
A longitudinal section shows thick white flesh that does not turn blue beneath a continuous tube layer.
Examine the specimen in this order.
- Look for pale pink to coral-pink pores on a sufficiently mature specimen.
- Check that the stem network is dark brown, connected and more prominent than the pale network of a penny bun.
- Rule out red pores, a carmine stem and any blue staining, which indicate other boletes.
Features incompatible with this species.
- Boletus edulis has white, then olive-yellow pores and a paler network, without coral-pink pores at maturity.
- Boletus pinophilus often has a wine-coloured cap and pale, then olive-coloured pores.
- Boletus aereus has a very dark bronze cap, cream to yellow pores and a finer network.
- Rubroboletus satanas has red pores at maturity, a yellow-and-carmine stem with a red network and slight blue staining.
