1 68 M \\ YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Boletinus pictus Pk. 



Painted Boletinus 



['LATE 6l, fig. /-J 



Pileus convex or nearly plane, at first covered with a red, fibrillose 

 'tomentum, soon spotted with red, fibrillose scales, flesh yellowish ; tubes 

 tenacious, adnate, pale yellow, becoming darker or ochraceous with age, 

 their mouths rather large, angular; stem cylindric, solid, slightly and evan- 

 escently annulate by the remains of the fibrillose or webby veil, yellow and 

 glabrous above the annulus, clothed and colored like the pileus below it ; 

 spores ochraceous, .00035 to -00045 °f an hich l° n g, .00016 to .0002 

 broad. 



The painted boletinus is a beautiful and easily recognized species. The 

 cap of the young plant is wholly covered by a red, fibrillose tomentum, which 

 soon separates into tufts or scales and reveals the yellowish color of the sur- 

 face beneath. In the very young plant the tomentum of the cap is continu- 

 ous with that of the stem and conceals the young tubes. This connecting 

 part of the tomentum is usually of a paler or grayer color than the rest. 

 With the expansion of the cap it separates from the margin and clings to 

 the stem, forming a kind of fibrillose or webby collar around it. This collar 

 is apt to disappear with age. The flesh of the cap is yellowish, and when 

 cut or broken and exposed to the air it sometimes slowly assumes a dull red- 

 dish color. 



The tubes of the young plant are pale yellow, but when mature they 

 are ochraceous. Their mouths are angular, and the edges of the dissepi- 

 ments are uneven: The stem is cylindric or sometimes slightly thicker at 

 the base than at the top. It is yellow at the top but colored and clothed 

 like the cap below the slight collar. The cap is 2 to 4 inches broad ; the 

 stem 1.5 to 3 inches long, 3 to 6 lines thick. The species inhabits woods 

 and mossy swamps. It is most often found under or near pine trees and 

 occurs from July to September. The tubes near the margin of the cap do 

 not separate easily from it, and in preparing the caps for cooking it is not 

 necessary to reject the tubes. The plants do not retain their color well in 

 drying. 



