Devil's Bolete

Habitat

This mushroom grows on calcareous or alkaline soil in broad-leaved woodlands. It is primarily associated with beech and oak trees, often favoring open areas. It typically occurs in solitary fashion or in small grouped clusters.

Photos

Appearance

Cap

Large, measuring 8–25 cm across; initially hemispherical and later convex. Color ranges from nearly white to buff or sepia, often with a faint red flush at the edge, aging to ochre or parchment-like. Surface is finely downy when young, becoming smooth and sometimes cracked at the center, and bruises brown when handled.

Stem

Very stout and often swollen, sometimes nearly spherical at the base. It features a yellow to orange top and a red or ochre base, decorated with a red net-like pattern that may become finely dotted towards the bottom. The mycelium at the base is white.

Pores

Small and round; colored blood-red or orange near the margin, turning orange with age and bruising blue-green.

Tubes

Yellowish-green to dark olive, turning blue when cut; they are free from the stem.

Flesh

Firm and pale straw or white in color, turning a light sky-blue when cut; may show rusty patches or red blotches at the stem base. The taste is unpleasant and the smell progresses from sweet to foul and fetid.

Spore print

Olive-green to walnut-brown.

Edibility

This species is dangerously poisonous and potentially deadly. It has a revolting, foetid odor and an unpleasant taste. Every forager should learn to recognize this fungus as it is the only bolete in Britain considered highly dangerous.

Nutrient Source

It forms a symbiotic relationship with trees, exchanging nutrients like sugars for minerals absorbed from the soil by the fungal network.

Common Names

Basque

etsai-onto, errementi-perreicuak, etsaiontoa, etsai-ontoa, satan onddo, satan ontoa, satan-onto

Catalan

matagent, mataparents, Mataparent

Danish

Satans rørhat

Dutch

Satansboleet

English

Devil's Bolete, Satan's Bolete

French

Bolet satan, Bolet diabolique, Cèpe du diable

German

Satansröhrling

Norwegian Bokmål

satansopp

Norwegian Nynorsk

satansopp

Spanish

mataparientes, Hongo del diablo, boleto de Satanás, Satán

Swedish

djävulssopp

Ukrainian

Червоноборовик чортів

Welsh

Cap Tyllog y Cythraul

Synonyms

• Boletus crataegi
• Boletus crataegi
• Boletus foetidus
• Boletus foetidus
• Boletus marmoreus
• Boletus satanas
• Boletus satanas — Devil's Bolete
• Boletus satanus
• Suillellus satanas
• Suillus satanas
• Tubiporus satanas
• Tubiporus satanas