Murrill: Illustrations of Fungi 



47 



Boletinellus merulioides (Schw.) Murrill 

 Eccentric-stemmed Boletinellus 



Plate 19. Figure 7. X § 



Pileus thin, irregular, usually lobed, more or less deeply de- 

 pressed at maturity, gregarious, 5-12 cm. broad; surface dry, 

 minutely tomentose, dull reddish-brown ; margin undulate or 

 deeply lobed: context 5-10 mm. thick, yellow, changing slowly 

 to bluish-green when wounded, having a musty or unpleasant 

 odor; tubes decurrent, hymenium honey-yellow when young, be- 

 coming dull-yellow with age, often changing slightly to blue when 

 wounded; tubes formed by radiating lamellae 2-3 mm. apart, 

 branching and connected by numerous irregular veins of less 

 prominence ; spores subovoid to ellipsoid, smooth, yellow to 

 brownish-ochraceous, 8-1 1 X 5-7 • stipe lateral or eccentric, 

 tough, expanded into the pileus, reticulate at the apex by the 

 decurrent walls of the tubes, concolorous, clothed like the pileus, 

 hollow, 1-3 cm. long, 8-12 mm. thick. 



This species occurs throughout the eastern United States in 

 low places or on shaded banks, especially about stumps and de- 

 caying roots. It is dull reddish-brown above and yellow below, 

 with very large tubes and eccentric or lateral stem. It is not 

 generally considered edible. 



