Polyporacese 



ham, Pa. Margins of woods, 1888-1889, grassy woods and margins. Boletus. 

 Mcllvaine. 



Common in West Virginia mountains where it grows with B. felleus, 

 from which it is impossible to distinguish it without tasting. It is de- 

 licious when cooked. But I long ago ceased collecting for the table 

 any Boletus questionable for B. felleus. I have been deceived so many 

 times taken the bitter for the sweet that, preferring the sweet, I take 

 no chances for the bitter. 



B. felleus Bull./*/, gall. Bitter. (Plate CXXII, fig. 2, 3, 4, 

 p. 468.) Pileus convex or nearly plane, firm, becoming soft, glabrous, 

 even, variable in color, pale-yellowish, grayish-brown, yellowish-brown, 

 reddish-brown or chestnut. Flesh white, often changing to flesh color 

 where wounded, taste bitter. Tubes adnate, long, convex, depressed 

 around the stem, their mouths angular, white, becoming tinged with 

 flesh-color. Stem variable, equal or tapering upward, short or long, 

 sometimes bulbous or enlarged at the base, subglabrous, generally 

 reticulated above, colored like or a little paler than the pileus. Spores 

 oblong-fusiform, flesh-colored, 12.517.5x45/4. 



Var. obe'sus. Pileus large. Stem thick, coarsely and distinctly 

 reticulated nearly or quite to the base. 



Pileus 3-8 in. broad. Stem 2-4 in. long, 6-12 lines thick. 



The variety is large and solitary in its mode of growth. It is remark- 

 able for the coarse reticulations of the stem which extend nearly or quite 

 to the base. After heavy rains the pileus is viscid. It may prove to 

 be a distinct species. 



The flesh in the American plant does not always assume incarnate 

 hues where wounded. The color of the fresh tubes often changes to a 

 deeper tint where wounded. Peck, Boleti of the U. S. 



West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Mcllvaine; 

 Indiana, H. I. Miller. 



A very common species in woods and on thin margins, on open 

 grassy places, and about decayed stumps. I saw hundreds of plants, 

 var. obesus, some a foot in diameter, in a wheat stubble near oak 

 woods. 



One of the most attractive of Boleti. Its cap resembles a handsomely 

 browned cake. Its solidity is inviting; its flesh, generous in quantity, 

 excites appetite. Until one experiences its intense lasting bitter, one 



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