OTHER BOLETI. 1 I 5 



in the cap as the other. It reaches from three to 

 seven inches in diameter, but is most usual about 

 four inches. The cap is very convex, almost hemi- 

 spherical at first, but in expanding becoming less so, 

 viscid and smooth, usually dull brown, but also 

 greyish, and a common form is brick red, or terra 

 cotta. Sometimes the cap is minutely downy, with 

 the down collected in little tufts, but often so slightly 

 velvety as not to be observable without a pocket lens. 

 The flesh is very thick and white in young speci- 

 mens, but usually turning reddish grey when cut or 

 broken, if fully mature. The tubes are very long, 

 becoming short next the stem, and the under surface 

 is of a dirty white, often smoky. There is a deep 

 channel round the top of the stem, caused by the 

 shortening of the tubes. The stem is six inches long, 

 thicker at the base and attenuated gradually up- 

 wards, dirty white, and rough throughout its length, 

 with blackish dot like scales, sometimes arranged in 

 lines. This roughness of the stem is peculiarly 

 characteristic. It will be observed that the stem is 

 invariably thinner above than in the edible boletus 

 and more attenuated. It is not unusual for the stem 

 to be much thickened and distorted at the base, but 

 always more or less rough. There is no species with 

 which it can be confounded, unless it be one which in 

 this country we call ve7'sipellis^ and that is equally 

 good-eating, and may, after all, be nothing more than 

 a variety. The flesh is firmer and less mucilaginous 



