Gyroporus castaneus

[ Basidiomycetes > Boletales > Gyroporaceae > Gyroporus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

This little bolete is a common summer feature in eastern North America's hardwood forests, easily recognized by its hollowing stem, relatively small size, the often splitting cap margin, and its pale yellow spore print. Gyroporus castaneus is chestnut brown, while a closely related and similar species, Gyroporus purpurinus, is purplish red.

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with hardwoods (and sometimes reported under conifers); growing scattered or gregariously; summer and fall; widely distributed and common in eastern North America, but rare to absent in most western areas. Trudell & Ammirati (2009) report Gyroporus castaneus in urban areas of the Pacific Northwest, probably imported with landscape trees.

Cap: 3-10 cm; convex, becoming broadly convex or nearly flat in age; dry; smooth or slightly velvety; margin even but often splitting in places at maturity; chestnut brown to yellowish brown or orange brown.

Pore Surface: White to cream or yellowish; not bruising; 1-3 pores per mm; tubes to 8 mm deep.

Stem: 3-9 cm long; .5-1.5 cm thick; more or less equal, sometimes tapering to apex and/or base; brittle; hollowing; colored like the cap or slightly paler; not bruising; not reticulate.

Flesh: White; brittle; not staining on exposure.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: Cap surface yellow, then white with KOH; amber-orange with ammonia; negative with iron salts. Flesh negative to pale brown with KOH, ammonia, and iron salts.

Spore Print: Pale yellow to buff.

Microscopic Features: Spores 8-13 x 5-6 µ; smooth; elliptic to oval.

REFERENCES: (Bulliard, 1788) Quélet, 1886. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo, 1888; Coker & Beers, 1943; Singer, 1945; Snell & Dick, 1970; Smith & Thiers, 1971; Thiers, 1975; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Weber & Smith, 1985; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Both, 1993; Bessette, Roody & Bessette, 2000; Roody, 2003; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006; Kuo, 2007; Ortiz-Santana et al., 2007; Binion et al., 2008.) Herb. Kuo 07079403, 06289504, 07180201, 07010703, 06180801, 07250902.

Further Online Information:

Gyroporus castaneus in Smith & Thiers, 1971
Gyroporus castaneus in Thiers, 1975
Gyroporus castaneus at Roger's Mushrooms

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2002, July). Gyroporus castaneus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/gyroporus_castaneus.html