378 



MUSHROOMS, EDIBLE AND OTHERWISE 



Boletus luridus. Schaeff. 



The Lurid Boletus. 



Luridus means pale-yellow, sallow. The pileus is convex, tomentose, brown- 

 olivaceous, then somewhat viscous, sooty. The flesh is yellow, changing- to blue 

 when wounded. Tubes free, yellow, becoming greenish, their mouths round, 

 vermilion, becoming orange. The stem is stout, vermilion, somewhat orange at 

 the top, reticulate or punctuate. The spores are greenish-gray, 15X9/X,. 



Figure 309. Boletus luridus. One-half natural size. 



The lurid Boletus, though pleasant to the taste, is reputed very poisonous. 

 Boletus rubeolarius, Pers., having a short, bulbous, scarcely reticulated stem, is 

 regarded as a variety of this species. The red-stemmed Boletus, B. erythropus, 

 Pers., is also indicated by Fries as a variety of luridus. It will be seen on the 

 right in Figure 309. It is smaller than B. luridus, has a brown or reddish-brown 

 pileus and a slender cylindrical stem, not reticulated but dotted with squamules. 

 Peck, Boleti of the U. S. The plant is quite abundant in our woods. Found in 

 July and August. 



