July to October
Devil's bolete
Rubroboletus satanas
Toxic
- Raw
- Do not eat raw
- Cooking
- No safety preparation validated
- Review
- Do not consume
- Instruction
- Never eat this species: cooking does not make it safe.
A very large toxic bolete identified by the combination of a greyish-white cap, red pores at maturity and a very swollen yellow-and-carmine stem with a fine red network.
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Guide contents
Guide contents
Season
Documented fruiting runs from July to October in suitable warm sites.
Habitat
Open, warm, calcareous broadleaf woodland, especially beneath oaks and beeches, sometimes in old parks.
Method
Check several visible features before retaining a species name.
Three features to check on the specimen.
Massive, very pale cap
The cap remains hemispherical to cushion-shaped, chalk-white to silver-grey. A predominantly chestnut-brown colour suggests a different bolete.
Yellow, then red pores
The very small pores are yellow on a very young specimen, then turn orange-red, carmine to blood-red at maturity.
Very swollen stem with a fine red network
The stem is short and extremely swollen, bright yellow at the top and carmine lower down, with a fine red network especially on its upper half.
Examine the specimen in this order.
- Check that the cap is greyish-white to silver-grey rather than brown like a penny bun.
- Assess the specimen's age before judging pore colour: the pores may still be yellow at a very young stage.
- Confirm the very swollen stem, yellow-and-carmine colours and fine red network together, without relying on blue staining alone.
Features incompatible with this species.
- Tylopilus felleus develops pinkish pores and a brown network on a beige stem, without the target's red pores and carmine stem.
- Caloboletus calopus retains yellow pores, although its stem can also show red tones.
- Neoboletus luridiformis generally has a darker cap and red dots on the stem rather than a fine network.
- Boletes of the Boletus edulis group have a brown cap and white, then olive-coloured pores, never blood-red.
