Today we are going to talk about one of the most difficult mushrooms to find but one that is worth it for its delicious flavor. Its about Boletus appendiculatus. It is a mushroom that has a great culinary quality and is very difficult to find. It has a name in English called "butter bolete" and it is because it has a color similar to butter.
In this article we are going to tell you all the characteristics, habitats and properties of the Boletus appendiculatus.
Key features
This mushroom belonging to the genus Boletus has a good-sized hat. It can reach up to 20 centimeters in diameter, although the usual thing is that is between 10 and 15 centimeters in size. When it begins to grow to develop from a young age it has a hemispherical shape. As it develops and reaches the mature stage, the shape of the hat becomes convex until, finally, it is flat. The surface of the hat has a more or less light chestnut brown color and a rather dry and finely stormy texture when young. The margins have surpluses although not too much.
They have yellow blades when they are young and, as they evolve and develop, they acquire olive-like tones that turn blue when pressed. It has various pores with a round shape and evenly distributed bright yellow color. They are quite small and also blue when touched. This mixture of colors is what causes it to be called butter fungus since it has a similar color to it.
As for the foot, they are in a normal position, it is quite thick especially in young specimens. When they reach the maturity stage, they become cylindrical in shape and fades at the almost radiant base. It is a fairly robust foot and has a yellow color. The base of the foot has an ocher color.
On the other hand, its meat is quite firm and compact which makes it a good food or culinary. It is thicker than normal and has a yellow color that is sometimes more vivid and other times more diffuse. It is one of the species of the genus Boletus that is blue when cut but is distinguished in that its blue tone is lighter. At the base of the foot we can sometimes see how it can turn a reddish color when cut. In addition, in this area the meat tends to be tougher and with a texture similar to cork. It is not a fungus that is distinguished by the smell but it has a quite sweet and pleasant taste.
Habitat of the Boletus appendiculatus
We can find this species during the summer and fall months. Depending on the rainfall that has occurred during the spring, it is more likely that it can grow frequently. However, it is a fairly difficult species to find in general. Both in summer and in autumn we can see it linked to flat trees, especially oaks. One of the strictest environmental conditions to find it is that it is not cold. It is one of the Boletus species most sensitive to cold.
Normally, when this species is consumed, the lower half of the foot is usually discarded. It is considered one of the most palatable mushroom species in gastronomy. One of the most frequent problems that cooks find is that it is a mushroom that has a great facility to fill with worms. This can be a handicap that occurs with large numbers of mushrooms that grow during the summer time.
It prefers slightly acidic soils and grows in fairly thick forests. It needs a lot of humidity but avoid low temperatures. We can find it especially in areas where there are beech and oak trees. Where else we can find them is during the summer season in temperate forests.
Sometimes we can find it in the Mediterranean forests depending on the rainfall that has occurred during the spring and the humidity that is maintained. It prefers temperate climates and it is rare to find them in tropical, subtropical and boreal climates. We can generally see them in groups of 2 to 3 mushrooms around oak and chestnut trees. If the spring has been very rainy we can find the odd specimen
Confusions of the Boletus appendiculatus
Apart from Boletus appendiculatus, we must know how to differentiate it with the Boletus Fechtneri. This last species has lighter tones and a pink foot. These are indicators to be able to differentiate one species well from another.
Another species that resembled the Boletus appendiculatus is the Caloboletus calopus. This species differs in that its meat is bitter and has a reddish reticule on the foot.. As we have mentioned before, it is a good edible but it is very seldom fit for consumption. It is already difficult to find specimens of this highly demanded mushroom, but when we find it, it is common to see it attacked by insects or worms.
We can also confuse it with the Boletus albidus. They differ mainly in that the stormy cuticle has pink colors on the hat.
Although its gastronomic quality does not reach that of the Edules, if it grants characteristics superior to those of other species of the genus Boletus.
Curiosities
The history classification of this mushroom is quite interesting. It belongs to the group known as Butter Boletus. It is a group of mushrooms that is quite interesting from an economic point of view since they have desirable characteristics in gastronomy and nutrition.
It has a similar importance to other specimens such as the boletus badius. Some recent studies that analyze the morphological and molecular characters of this fungus, revealed that it is not part of the genus Boletus. It currently has a new genus called Butyriboletus. In this group are fungi distributed by Asia, Europe, and North America. Therefore, this mushroom is renamed Butyriboletus appendiculatus.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about this species of mushroom.