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Boletus luridiformis, formerly known as Boletus erythropus, is a wild mushroom of the bolete family, all of which have tubes and pores, instead of gills beneath their caps. It is found in Northern Europe, and North America, and is sometimes commonly known as the Dotted Stem Bolete. Although edible when cooked, it can cause gastric upset when raw and can be confused where the two species coincide with the poisonous Boletus satanas , which has a paler cap.
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Boletus luridiformis was originally described by Christian Hendrik Persoon in 1796 as Boletus erythropus - a name since reduced to synonymy - [1] which derived its specific name from the Greek ερυθρος ("red") and πους ("foot"),[2] referring to its red coloured stalk. Its French name, bolet à pied rouge or 'red-foot bolete' is a literal translation.
Boletus luridiformis is a large solid fungus with a bay-brown hemispherical to convex cap that can grow up to 20 cm (8 in) wide, and is quite felty initially. It has small orange-red pores that become rusty with age, and bruise blue to black. The tubes are yellowish-green, and become blue quickly on cutting. The fat, colourful, densely red-dotted yellow stem is 4–12 cm (2–5 in) high, and has no network pattern (reticulation). The flesh stains dark blue when bruised; broken, or cut.[1] There is little smell. The spore dust is olive greenish-brown.
The similar Boletus luridus has a network pattern on the stem, and seems to prefer chalky soil.
Boletus satanas also has a stem network, and a very pale whitish cap.
The fungus grows in deciduous or coniferous woodland, in summer and autumn, in Europe. It is often found in the same places as Boletus edulis. It is also widely distributed in North America, and is especially common under spruce in its range from Northern California to Alaska. In Eastern North America it grows with both soft, and hardwood trees.[3] It seems to prefer acid soils.
Mild tasting, Boletus luridiformis is edible after cooking, though caution is advised as it resembles other less edible blue-staining boletes, and should thus be avoided by novice mushroom hunters. [3]