974 NETW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



sepiments slowly assume a blue color where wounded. The 

 stem varies in length but it is generally nearly equal in thick- 

 ness in all its parts. It is colored like the cap except at the 

 top where it is generally yellow like the tubes. It is solid as 

 in most boleti and by this character it may be distinguished 

 from the closely related European Boletus barlae. 



The cap is 2-4 inches broad; the stem 1-3 inches long and 4-6 

 lines thick. This boletus grows in thin woods or open places 

 and seems to prefer localities where chestnut trees grow. It 

 may be found from July to September. When properly cooked 

 it is tender and has a fine flavor and merits a place among first 

 class mushrooms. 



Boletus pallidus Frost 



PALE BOLETUS 



PLATE 81, FIG. 1-5 



Pileus fleshy, convex becoming nearly plane or slightly con- 

 cave above by the elevation of the margin, soft, dry, glabrous, 

 whitish, grayish or brownish, sometimes tinged with red, flesh 

 white; tubes nearly plane in the mass when young, adnate or 

 slightly depressed around the stem, pale yellow or whitish, 

 usually tinged with green, becoming darker with age, their 

 mouths small, subrotund, the dissepiments assuming bluish 

 hues where wounded; stem commonly rather long, straight or 

 flexuous, solid, equal or slightly thickened at the base, glabrous, 

 whitish, sometimes streaked with brown and tinged with red 

 within; spores pale ochraceous browm tinged with green, sub- 

 fusiform, .0004-.0005 of an inch long, .0002-.00025 broad. 



The pale boletus or pallid boletus is appropriately named. 

 Its cap and stem are not a clear white but just enough shaded 

 with brown to suggest the term pale. Whitish, dingy white, 

 smoky white, grayish or grayish white are expressive of its 

 varying hues. There is sometimes a slight reddish tint in the 

 cap. Its color is apt to become darker in drying. Its surface 

 is dry and smooth or nearly so and the cuticle is sometimes 

 marked by fine cracks, specially on the margin. These reveal 

 the white flesh beneath. The tubes generally form a nearly 



