Bay Bolete

Bay Bolete Boletus badius (Fr.) Fr. syn. Xerocomus badius (Fr.) E.-J. Gilbert (illustrated 45% life size) Cap 4–14cm across; bay to dark brick-colour, later flushed ochraceous-brown; downy when young, soon becoming smooth and polished, slightly viscid in wet weather. Stem 45–125×8–40mm; concolorous with cap or paler; surface slightly cottony. Flesh white to lemon-yellow on cutting, becoming faintly blue, particularly in stem apex and above tubes, vinaceous in cap; taste and smell mild, mushroomy. Tubes cream to lemon-yellow, bruising bluish-green. Pores large, readily bruising blue-green. Spores 13–15×4.5–5.5¼, subfusiform. Spore print olivaceous walnut-brown. Habitat in mixed woods; autumn. Very common throughout British Isles. Edible very good and usually free of maggots.