Genus Boletinus 



have the appearance of a big red tongue protruding from a tree 

 trunk, so that the French call it langue de boeuf. It is often 

 called vegetable beefsteak, from the flesh-like fibre and colour of 

 the fresh specimens. When young, the upper side is velvety 

 and of a fine peach colour ; later it becomes liver red and loses 

 the velvety appearance ; the under surface is flesh coloured, and 

 is rough, much like the surface of a tongue, owing to the fact 

 that the tubes are free from one another. 



GEmS BOLETINUS 



The spore-bearing surface of the genus Boletinus is com- 

 posed of broad, radiating lamellse connected by numerous nar- 

 row partitions so as to form large angular pores. The tubes are 

 not easily separable from each other and from the portion on 

 which they are borne. They are yellowish in colour, and grow 

 downward somewhat on the stem. The genera may be distin- 

 guished by the following table: 



1 . Stem hollow Boletinus cavipes 



2. Stem solid, lateral, or eccentric Boletinus porosus 



3. Stem solid, central. Cap pale yellow and silky Boletinus decipiens 



4. Stem solid, central. Cap red Boletinus paluster 



5. Stem solid, central. Cap with red scales Boletinus pictus 



Painted Boletinus (Edible) 



Boletinus pictus 



Cap or Pileus — Convex or nearly plane; at first covered with red 

 matted fibres, which soon divide into small scales, so as to 

 reveal the yellow colour of the cap beneath. 2-4 inches wide. 



Tubes — Pale yellow, or pale yellow tinged with brown. Not 

 easily separated from the cap. 



r«7— Webby, concealing the tubes of the young plant. 



Stem or Stipe — Solid, with scales and colour similar to those of the 

 cap. I >^-3 inches long. 



Ring or Annulus. — Webby ; evident in some specimens. 



Spores — Pale yellow tinged with brown. 



Flesh — Yellowish, often assuming reddish tints when bruised. 



Habitat— ^oods and mossy swamps. 



CSv'-l-pes P6-r6'-stts De-^p'-J-Sns Pa-Ifis'-tSr PJc'-ttts 



103 



