Neat Bolete

Appearance

"Leccinellum lepidum" produces large, fleshy fruit bodies. The cap is at first hemispherical, gradually becoming convex or convex-flat as the fungus expands, reaching a diameter of 6 to 20 cm. The cap cuticle is smooth to somewhat lobed and often with a "hammered" appearance, moderately to strongly viscid in wet weather, ranging in colour from ochraceous yellow to ochraceous brown, chestnut-brown, or in very old specimens blackish brown.

The tubes are more or less free from the stem, 1 to 2 cm long and pale yellow to ochraceous yellow. The pores are small and rounded, concolorous with the tubes, slowly staining rusty-brown and finally greyish brown when handled or with age.

The stem is 5 to 15 cm long by 2 to 6 cm wide, usually stout and short-ventricose at first, but gradually becoming longer and clavate to cylindrical, ranging in colour from ochraceous yellow to pale yellow, straw-coloured, or dirty white. Its surface is covered in tiny pustules, concolorous with the stem surface at first, but often staining rusty-brown or grey-brown with age and sometimes coalescing to form an incomplete pseudoreticulum.

The flesh is thick and dull yellow to straw-coloured. When cut or exposed to the air it very slowly discoloures orange or violaceous-grey in parts, and after a few hours darkens to greyish-brown or grey-black. The smell is weakly fungoid in young specimens, becoming stronger in old specimens, while the taste is mild to somewhat astringent. The spores are tobacco-brown in mass.

Under the microscope, the spores appear narrowly ellipsoid to fusiform and measure 13.5–22 × 5–6 μm. The cap cuticle is a trichodermium of septate cylindrical hyphae, often finely incrusted.

Naming

Originally described as "Boletus lepidus" in 1965, the fungus has gone through controversial taxonomic treatments over the years and was subsequently transferred to genus" Krombholziella" in 1985, to genus "Leccinum" in 1990, and to genus "Leccinellum" in 2003. It is the sister-species of "Leccinellum corsicum", with which it had been erroneously synonymised by some authors in the past.

Distribution

The species is widespread in the Mediterranean region, where it forms ectomycorrhizal associations with various species of oak. It is most commonly associated with evergreen members of the ""Ilex"" group, particularly the holm oak, but also the golden oak, the kermes oak and the Palestine oak. In the western parts of the Mediterranean basin, it is frequently found under the cork oak, while collections under the semi-deciduous Portuguese oak have also been reported. It is indifferent to the substrate and occurs abundantly on both calcareous and acidic soil.

Although a southern species, the fungus is notable for its late fruiting season and tolerance to low temperatures. In a 10-year study from the island of Cyprus, "L. lepidum" was the most frequently recorded bolete, accounting for over half of all Boletaceae collections found during the winter months.