Slippery jack

Appearance

The cap is brown and up to 12 cm in diameter at maturity. The cap is initially hemispherical, later flattening out. It is slimy to the touch, bare, smooth, and glossy even when dry and the cuticle is easily peeled off.

The tiny, circular pores of the tubes are at first light yellow but turn olive to dark yellow with maturity. The attachment to the stem is adnate. The stem attains a height of up to 10 cm and a width 3 cm. It is pale yellow and more or less cylindrical but may bear a swollen base.

A white partial veil extends from the stem to the cap margin in immature specimens. At maturity the veil detaches from the cap and its remnant forms a ring around the stem. The underside of the ring is characteristically dark brown to violet.

This species is one of the few members of the genus ''Suillus'' that sport such a ring. The white flesh of the entire fungus does not discolour when damaged, and it is soft particularly in mature specimens. It is frequently infested with larvae.

Naming

''Suillus luteus'' is often confused with ''Suillus granulatus'', which is another common mushroom occurring in the same habitat. ''S. granulatus'' is yellow-fleshed and exudes latex droplets when young but most conspicuously, it bears neither partial veil nor ring.

Other than that, ''Suillus luteus'' is unlikely to be confused with other mushrooms, especially if its preferred home under pine trees and the whitish partial veil are taken into consideration.

Distribution

''Suillus luteus'' can be found all over the northern hemisphere. It is found in coastal and montane pine forests and exhibits a tolerance of the northern latitudes. It is especially common in pine plantations and young pine forests.

It has also been found under pine trees in introduced pine plantations in Australia, particularly in the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands, as well as New Zealand and Argentinean Patagonia. There it can be picked around Easter.