The Greyshank Bolete (Leccinum cyaneobasileucum) is a medium to large scaber-stalk bolete with a smooth, convex cap in fulvous to hazel tones that is dry, or tacky in wet weather. The pale pores sit above a slender, greyish stem covered in soft, woolly scales, which is often tinged bluish-green towards the base.
It grows with birch on acid soils, from rather dry ground to boggy moss, and fruits from June to November. It is widespread and common in Britain, and is probably under-recorded because it is so easily passed off as its close relative.
The main lookalike is the Brown Birch Bolete (Leccinum scabrum), which does not blue at the stem base and differs microscopically. Orange Birch Bolete (Leccinum versipelle) has a much more orange cap. The flesh of the Greyshank Bolete flushes pink at the top of the stem and slowly turns blue near the base, which helps to separate it. Sources class it as edible, but identification within Leccinum can be difficult, so never eat a bolete you cannot name with certainty.
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Distribution
Widespread and common
Habitat
Under Betula on rather dry to boggy soils in moss
Etymology
Leccinum comes from an old Italian word for a fungus, and was adopted as the name of the scaber-stalk boletes. The epithet cyaneobasileucum is a Latinised compound referring to the blue (cyaneo) base (basi) and the white (leucum) flesh, and describes the way the white flesh turns blue at the stem base when it is cut or damaged.
Associates
Betula
Conservation
Cap
The cap surface is smooth and normally dry. In wet weather it becomes slightly sticky or tacky to the touch.
| Colour | |
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| Width | 4 - 10 cm |
Pores
Pale yellow, rounded and very small. They do not change quickly when touched, and only gradually darken to a hazel-brown with handling or age.
| Colour | |
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| Bruising |
Tubes
Pale yellow, with a faint grey-brown tinge, and short compared with the stem. They are broadly attached to the stem (adnate) and form a neat, even layer under the cap.
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Flesh
The white flesh soon flushes pink at the top of the stem when cut. Towards the base it turns bluish, but only slowly.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Odour | Pleasant |
| Taste | Mild |
Stem
Slender and long, whitish with mouse-grey woolly scales that darken and grey further with age. Young stems are barrel-shaped, becoming slightly club-shaped when mature. The base often has a bluish-green cast, especially when handled or cut.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Height | 7 - 20 cm |
| Width | 8 - 20 mm |
| Bruising |
Spores
Smooth and subfusiform (spindle-shaped), 14-20 x 4-6.5 µm, giving a drab spore print. The hyphae of the cap cuticle are short and break apart easily, which is a useful microscopic character.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Size | 14-20 x 4-6.5 μm |
Microscopic Features
The hyphae of the cap cuticle are short and break apart easily when the cuticle is examined under the microscope. This is a useful character for separating the species from its close relatives.
Classification
- ↳ Phylum: Basidiomycota
- ↳ Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
- ↳ Class: Agaricomycetes
- ↳ Subclass: Agaricomycetidae
- ↳ Order: Boletales
- ↳ Family: Boletaceae
- ↳ Genus: Leccinum
Synonyms
- Leccinum brunneogriseolum Lannoy & Estadès
- Leccinum brunneogriseolum f. chlorinum Lannoy & Estadès
- Leccinum cyaneobasileucum f. brunneogriseolum (Lannoy & Estadès) A.E. Hills, ined.
- Leccinum cyaneobasileucum var. brunneogriseolum (Lannoy & Estadès) Lannoy & Estadès
Reference Sources
G. Kibby (2017) British Boletes with keys to species. Geoffrey Kibby.
T. Læssøe, J. H. Peterson (2019) Fungi of Temperate Europe Vol. 1. Princeton University Press.
R. Phillips (2006) Mushrooms. Macmillan.
G. Kibby (2020) Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain & Europe Vol. 1. Geoffrey Kibby.
