Boletus radicans

Boletus radicans Pers. (illustrated (a) 40% life size) Cap 8–16cm across; dingy white to clay-buff with ochraceous tints and smoky-grey margin, more ochraceous with age; downy at first, becoming smooth or cracking into small scales at centre. Stem 50–80×30–40mm, swollen towards the rooting base; sometimes flushed reddish, lemon-yellow at apex, spotted rusty to dirty ochraceous near base, net straw-coloured and distinct near apex, disappearing below; robust. Flesh yellow then rapidly white in cap when cut, reacting similarly in stem but becoming pale blue, especially in apex, and rapidly fading; taste unpleasant or bitter, smell spicy. Tubes lemon-yellow, becoming blue when cut or bruised. Pores small, round; lemon-yellow, bruising blue. Spores 12–16×4.5–6¼, subfusiform. Spore print olivaceous walnut-brown. Habitat with broad-leaved trees, particularly oak and beech; summer to autumn. Occasional. Not edible due to its bitterness. Note named B. albidus in my first book, but this name has now been declared illegitimate.