Peppery Bolete

Peppery Bolete Chalciporus piperatus (Bull.) Bataille syn. Boletus piperatus Bull. (illustrated 50% life size) Cap 3–7cm across; cinnamon to sienna; at first slightly viscid then dry, smooth, and shiny. Stem 40–75×5–20mm, slender, tapering towards base; concolorous with cap, distinctive lemon-chrome at base. Flesh flushed red above tubes and under cuticle, intensely lemon-chrome in stem base; taste peppery, smell not distinctive. Tubes decurrent or subdecurrent; cinnamon then rust, not bruising. Pores angular; rich rust-coloured at maturity. Spores 8–11×3–4¼, subfusiform to elliptical. Spore print walnut-brown, flushed ochraceous-cinnamon. Habitat variable, particularly in birch scrub or mixed pine and birch on sandy soil; late summer to autumn. Common. Edible with caution, very hot and peppery.