Boletus legaliae

Taxobox
name = Boletus legaliae

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image_width = 250px
status = uncommon
image_caption =
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Boletales
familia = Boletaceae
genus = "Boletus"
species = "B. legaliae"
binomial = "Boletus legaliae"
binomial_authority = Pilát
synonyms = "Boletus splendidus" C. Martín
"Boletus satanoides"

"Boletus legaliae", previously known as "B. splendidus" or "B. satanoides", is a basidiomycete fungus of the bolete family. It is poisonous, with predominantly gastrointestinal symptoms, and is related to "Boletus satanas".

Taxonomy

"Boletus legaliae" was described by Czech mycologist Albert Pilát in 1968. It is named after the French mycologist Marcelle Le Gal. [cite web |author= Bernard Crozes |url= http://mycostra.free.fr/bulletin/femmes_mycologues.htm |title= Les femmes mycologues |accessdate= 2008-07-04 |publisher= Mycological Society of Strasbourg |language= French ] "Boletus splendidus" as described by Charles-Édouard Martín in 1894 is a synonym. The description of "Boletus satanoides" was too vague to be ascribed to any actual species.

Description

The cap is initially off-white, or coffee-coloured at the button stage. In mid life it often (but not always) turns a pale mouse grey. In old age the cap turns reddish, or what has been described as 'old rose'.cite book | author = Régis Courtecuisse and Bernard Duhem | year = (British version) 1995 | title = Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe | publisher = Harper Collins | isbn = 0 00 220025 2] It may reach 14 cm (6 in) in diameter.The stipe is stocky, with a narrow red reticulation (net pattern) on an orange ground at the apex. This orange ground colour fades gradually towards the mid-section, making the red reticulation more pronounced. At the base the reticulation is absent, and the stem turns dark vinaceous. Sometimes the stem detail can be faint, or even absent when covered with earth or leaf litter. The pores are initially red, but have an overall orange colour when mature, and they bruise blue. The flesh turns pale blue on cutting / dark vinaceous in the stem base. The flesh is said to smell of chicory.cite book | author = Marcel Bon | year = 1987 | title = The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North Western Europe | publisher = Hodder and Stoughton | isbn = 0 340 39935 X]

imilar species

"Boletus satanas" Lenz, which is found in broad-leaved woodland on calcareous soil, has a whiter cap, which turns brownish-ochre, lacking the overall reddish tones in maturity. It has a more nauseating smell, and it is poisonous, possibly deadly.cite book | author = Roger Phillips | year = 2006 | title = Mushrooms | publisher = Pan MacMillan | isbn = 0-330-44237-6] mycomorphbox
name = Boletus legaliae
whichGills = adnate
capShape = convex
hymeniumType=pores
stipeCharacter=bare
ecologicalType=mycorrhizal
sporePrintColor=olive-brown
howEdible=poisonous

Distribution and habitat

Uncommon in Southern England, and Europe.Grows with oak ("Quercus") and beech ("Fagus") often on neutral to acid soils.

Toxicity

Very probably poisonous.

Group status

In Britain, all of the "Boletes" in the "Satanas" group are either very rare, endangered, or extinct. [http://194.203.77.76/fieldmycology/GBCHKLST/gbchklst.asp?RecordID=%22%22 British Checklist]

References