Suillus pictus

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by Michael Kuo

Whenever I launch into one of my "I hate Suillus" tirades, one of my mushrooming buddies reminds me that Suillus pictus is a joy to find, because it's so beautiful. Its gorgeous rose-brick cap and stem colors contrast well with its pale yellow pore surface, and we find it under eastern white pine in northern Michigan every year, popping up frequently--and in unexpected places, adding a dash of color to a canvas of browns. And: Suillus pictus is one of the few Suillus mushrooms that doesn't suffer from whatever rare disease it is that makes their slime-o-factory glands overproduce. True enough--but it's still a Suillus. And try eating one! The lack of slime, it turns out, is just a cruel hoax; it all comes back in the kitchen.

So I leave you to make your own judgments about this admittedly beautiful mushroom, and its so-called "edibility." I, meanwhile, will seek counseling for my problems with prejudice. You see, Doctor, as a child I was beaten with Suillus . . .

Description:

Ecology: Mycorrhizal with eastern white pine; growing alone or gregariously; late summer and fall; northeastern North America, extending as far west as Minnesota and as far south as Kentucky.

Cap: 3-12 cm; convex with an inrolled margin when young, but soon broadly convex to flat; covered with large pinkish to brick-rose scruffies; whitish partial veil tissue often hanging from the margin; dry; fading with age.

Pore Surface: Covered with a whitish partial veil when young; yellow, darker with age; sometimes slightly running down the stem; sometimes bruising reddish or brownish; pores small to large, .5-5 mm across, vaguely radially arranged; tubes 4-8 mm deep.

Stem: 4-12 cm long; 1-2.5 cm thick; equal or sometimes wider in the base; without glandular dots, but shaggy with scruffies below the whitish to grayish ring; not bruising; frequently with a whitish to grayish ring.

Flesh: Yellow throughout, sometimes staining slightly reddish.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: Cap surface black with KOH, iron salts, or ammonia; flesh greenish black with iron salts, olive to greenish black with KOH or ammonia.

Spore Print: Brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 8-12 x 3.5-5 µ; smooth; subfusoid.

Suillus spraguei and Boletinus pictus are synonyms.

REFERENCES: (Peck, 1889) Kuntze, 1898. (Frost, 1874; Coker & Beers, 1943; Singer, 1945; Smith & Thiers, 1964; Snell & Dick, 1970; Smith & Thiers, 1971; Grund & Harrison, 1976; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Weber & Smith, 1985; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Both, 1993; Barron, 1999; Bessette, Roody & Bessette, 2000; Roody, 2003; McNeil, 2006; Miller & Miller, 2006; Kuo, 2007.) Herb. Kuo 09019525, 09150711.

Further Online Information:

Suillus pictus in Smith & Thiers, 1971
Suillus pictus at Roger's Mushrooms

Suillus pictus is the most common host for Hypomyces completus, a white fungus that eventually parsitizes the whole mushroom. I can find no information on the edibility of Suillus pictus parasitized by Hypomyces completus, but I can't imagine anyone caring. For more information on Hypomyces completus, see the USDA's Hypomyces Web site (direct link to species not available due to Javascript and frames).

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, November). Suillus pictus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/suillus_pictus.html