Gyroporus castaneus

Taxobox
name = Gyroporus castaneus
status = no data, 2007 IUCN

---

image_width = 250px
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Boletales
familia = Sclerodermatineae
genus = "Gyroporus"
species = "G. castaneus"
binomial = "Gyroporus castaneus"
binomial_authority = (Bull.) Quel.mycomorphbox
name = Gyroporus castaneus
capShape = convex
capShape2=flat
hymeniumType=pores
stipeCharacter=bare
ecologicalType=mycorrhizal
sporePrintColor=yellow
howEdible=edible

"Gyroporus castaneus", or commonly The Chestnut Bolete is a small white-pored relation of the "Boletus" mushrooms. It has a brown cap, and is usually found with oak trees. It differs from the true "Boletes" in that the spores are a pale straw colour.

Taxonomy

Described initially by the French mycologist Jean Baptiste Francois Pierre Bulliard (1742-1792). Formerly a member of the Paxillaceae family, recent research now places this mushroom in Sclerodermatineae. [http://www.clarku.edu/faculty/dhibbett/boletales_stuff/Global_Boletales_2004_28S.gif] "Gyroporus" means, 'having round pores', and "castaneus" is a reference to the chestnut colouration.

Description

The cap is from 3 to 10cms in diameter. It is pale brown; or rusty brown, and becomes darker with age. The stem is a similar colour, although it may be lighter at the apex. If the stem is cut vertically, it is usual to find several cavities of differing sizes inside. Both the cap, and the stem have a tendency to crack or split in dry periods, or with age. The pores are small and white; they become dirtier with age, and are not attached to the stem. They darken slightly when pressed. The tubes are also whitish, and the spore print is pale yellow to straw. The flesh is firm,cite book | author = Roger Phillips | year = 2006 | title = Mushrooms | publisher = Pan MacMillan | isbn = 0-330-44237-6] and does not change colour on cutting. The photograph on the right shows the chunkier form, a slender form also occurs.

Distribution and habitat

Found occasionally in Britain and throughout continental Europe, as well as Eastern North America, but it is rare in Western North America.cite book |author=David Arora |year=1986 |title=Mushrooms Demystified |publisher=Ten Speed Press |isbn=0-89815-169-4] Grows in small groups, or singly, in an ectomycorrhizal relationship with oaks ("Quercus"). Prefers acid and sandy soils and fruits from summer to autumn.

"Gyroporus castaneus" has been included in the Moscow Oblast's and the Russian Federation's Red Book and several other countries' Red Lists, including those of Norway and Montenegro. [cite web | title=Каштановий Гриб | publisher=Red Book of Moscow Oblast | url=http://www.geogr.msu.ru/rb/rb/fungi/gyroporus_castaneus.html | accessdate=September 5 | accessyear=2008] [cite web | title=The Provisory Red List of Endangered Macromycetes of Montenegro | publisher= Montenegrin Mycological Center | url=http://www.wsl.ch/eccf/Montenegro05.pdf | accessdate=September 5 | accessyear=2008] [cite web | title=Red List of Threatened Fungi in Norway | publisher= Fungiflora 1998 | url=http://www.nhm.uio.no/botanisk/sopp/redintro_gammel.htm | accessdate=September 5 | accessyear=2008]

Edibility

Edible, and highly thought of by most authors. Said to taste pleasantly nutty when young. However; Marcel Bon, in his 1987 book ‘The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North Western Europe’ records it as 'suspect'.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] So it may be worth applying caution, by eating a very small amount initially.There is also reportedly; a poisonous strain of this mushroom in coastal Portugal.cite book | author = Thomas Laessoe | year = 1998 | title = Mushrooms (flexi bound) | Publisher = Dorling Kindersley | isbn = 0-7513-1070-0]

References

External links

* [http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=356881 Index Fungorum] Synonyms
* [http://healing-mushrooms.net/archives/gyroporus-castaneus.html healing-mushrooms.net] Description and medicinal properties