Alder Bolete

Alder Bolete Gyrodon lividus Bull. (Sacc.) syn. Uloporus lividus (Bull.) Quél. (illustrated 40% life size) Cap 4–10cm across; straw-coloured or pale buff, often with a tinge of rust; viscid at first, becoming dry. Stem 30–70×10–20mm; concolorous with cap or paler, later flushed vinaceous-brown. Flesh whitish-lemon in cap, becoming blue above the tubes and in the stem apex, rusty towards the stem base; taste and smell not distinctive. Tubes bright sulphur-yellow, bruising greenish-blue then fading to brown. Pores large, angular; colouring similar to tubes, bruising dark blue-grey. Spores 4.5–6×3–4¼, elliptical to ovate. Spore print olivaceous-brown. Habitat with alders, solitary or often joined at the stem to several others in tufts; autumn. Rare, vulnerable on Red Data List. Edible.