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A mycologist compares a porcini with the illustrations in a mushroom atlas while the Expert explains

Pine Bolete

Boletus pinophilus · family Boletaceae

Description

The pine bolete is a large, massive bolete with a red-brown, chestnut or chocolate cap, usually 5-30 cm across. The cuticle is matt, finely felty, sometimes wrinkled and sticky in rain. Under the cap there are tubes, white in young fruiting bodies, then yellow and olive. The thick, barrel-shaped or club-shaped stem is covered with a distinct net, often with an orange-red tinge. The flesh is white, does not change colour when cut and has a pleasant, spicy smell.

It grows from May to October, most abundantly at the beginning of the season, most often under pines on poor, acid, sandy soils, but also under firs, spruces and some broadleaved trees (beech, oak).

It can be confused with other boletes (porcino, summer cep, bronze bolete). If you are not sure, ask an experienced mycologist to assess it.

Identification features

Cap
Diameter 5-30 cm (descriptions give up to 40 cm); at first hemispherical, then flat-arched, finally spread out; in young specimens small in relation to the stem. Surface finely felty, matt, usually uneven, knobbly or wrinkled, sticky in rain. Colour red-brown to chestnut and chocolate-brown, sometimes with a purplish or violet tinge; a young cap may be pale pink with a whitish bloom. Cuticle thicker than in related boletes, gelatinous.
Hymenophore (underside of the cap)
Poroid; tubes and pores white in young fruiting bodies, then yellow, in full maturity olive-brown to olive-yellow. Pores small, round. Attachment of the tubes to the stem - no data.
Stem
Height 6-16 cm (according to some descriptions up to 25 cm), thickness 3-7 cm; at first barrel-shaped, then ovoid, finally club-shaped, bulbous. Covered with a net, whitish at the top, clearly thicker and coarser-meshed than in other boletes, often with an orange-red tinge, especially at the bottom; in the lower part more brownish and usually reaching the base.
Flesh
In young fruiting bodies white (reddish-brown only under the cuticle), in older ones creamy-white with a yellow tinge, soft in mature ones; does not change colour when damaged. Smell pleasant, spicy; taste pleasant.
Spore print and spores
Spore print olive to olive-brown. Spores smooth, cylindrical-ellipsoid, with oil droplets, without a germ pore; dimensions 14-20 × 4.5-6 µm (descriptions give different ranges).

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. A mycorrhizal fungus (ectomycorrhiza) with pines (including Scots pine, black pine, Swiss stone pine, maritime pine), and also with silver fir and Norway spruce; it may also grow under broadleaved trees (sweet chestnut, oak, beech, probably birch and hornbeam). Prefers poor, acid, sandy soils in coniferous forests. The form associated with fir and spruce is sometimes distinguished as var. fuscoruber.

Distribution. Europe and western Asia; in Europe regarded as the rarest of the porcini group; in Czechia regarded as threatened. In Poland not legally protected (Dz.U. 2014 item 1408). Introduced with pines to other regions of the world. Chinese and North American populations were mostly assigned to separate species.

Fruiting. From May to October, most abundantly at the beginning of the season (according to other descriptions summer and autumn; in Italy from April).

What can it be confused with?

  • Boletus edulis (porcino) — Cap usually paler, brown, net on the stem finer and paler; the pine bolete has a red-brown cap, a thicker cuticle, and a stem with a coarser, orange-reddish net.
  • Boletus reticulatus (summer cep) — Sometimes confused with the pine bolete; detailed differences - no data.
  • Boletus aereus (bronze bolete) — Cap darker. Detailed differences - no data.
  • Butyriboletus regius (royal bolete) — Caution: similar protected species (strict protection in Poland), not included in the Atlas. Cap pink to rose-red, tubes and pores bright yellow, stem yellow with a fine yellow net, flesh yellow. Do not pick.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

  • For years regarded as a variety or form of the porcino; its distinctness as a species was confirmed only by genetic studies.
  • Venturi's name Boletus pinicola had to be replaced by a new one (B. pinophilus, 1973), because it was already taken by another fungus, now Fomitopsis pinicola.
  • The species epithet combines Latin pinus (pine) and Greek philus (loving).
  • Around Borgotaro (Italy) the pine bolete, together with three related boletes, bears the trade name Fungo di Borgotaro.
Gribo does not assess edibility. Identification from a photo — also in the app — does not replace a mushroom expert.

Frequently asked questions

When does Pine Bolete grow?

According to observations in Poland (GBIF) the season is: August – October; most records fall in September.

Where does Pine Bolete grow?

A mycorrhizal fungus (ectomycorrhiza) with pines (including Scots pine, black pine, Swiss stone pine, maritime pine), and also with silver fir and Norway spruce; it may also grow under broadleaved trees (sweet chestnut, oak, beech, probably birch and hornbeam). Prefers poor, acid, sandy soils in coniferous forests. The form associated with fir and spruce is sometimes distinguished as var. *fuscoruber*.

In the Gribo app this species also has a 3D model you can rotate, photos in the quiz and warnings when identifying with the camera. See how to get started.