Notes on my first Boletus subvelutipes

I’ve spent the morning researching this lovely bolete I ran into on Friday (6/11). I'm also experimenting with this iNaturalist feature I just discovered that allows journal entries associated with a specific observation. Crazy!

Setting the scene: I was traversing the cemetery with a friend and decided to swing by a Dell Water area I don’t check frequently but, because it was on the way and because @sigridjakob had mentioned some fine mycorrhizal finds, I wandered through.

A remote rise above the pond, this area is dominated by two mature hardwoods: a large Quercus rubra (northern red oak) and a veteran Fagus sylvatica ( European beech). The F. sylvatica hosts a couple of saprobes (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63532429 -- Ganoderma sessile and https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/19790070 -- Pleurotus ostreatus). The Q. rubra supports a lively variety of amanitas, boletes, and russulas. This is clearly one of the mycorrhizal hotspots of the cemetery and deserves special treatment and attention for the Fungi Phenology project.

There are a couple of rabbit holes I've explored based on this observation that I might as well share, since I have the space and the inclination.

First, this flush of B. subvelutipes is clearly associated with the Fagus, not the Quercus. Maybe there is root overlap, but it doesn't look like it to me. The bolete is on the north side of the Fagus which is opposite the Quercus. Michael Kuo describes this bolete under a variety of hardwoods, but not beech. (https://www.mushroomexpert.com/boletus_subvelutipes.html). The Bolete Filter, a very cool synoptic key that @tombigelow referenced in the NYMS Advanced ID session, shows that B. subvelutipes is only associated with conifers (https://boletes.wpamushroomclub.org/product/boletus-subvelutipes/#lightbox/5/). That is wrong and deserves correction.

Second, B. subvelutipes has a strong history in Green-Wood. Check out https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=123662&subview=map&taxon_id=125367 for a mapping of all the documented finds. My favorite is https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/53541293 -- thanks @novapatch!

Third, in the article referenced above Michael Kuo makes an argument for focusing attention on this beautiful and taxonomically complex bolete. Calling all project members -- let's document other colonies of B. subvelutipes within GW. I have my sample currently drying in the dehydrator and plan to submit for sequencing using our FunDiS grant. Anyone with specimens from other parts of GW, collect and contact me so we can begin mapping the distribution and ecology.

Posted on June 13, 2021 05:12 PM by pcpalmer3 pcpalmer3

Observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Red-mouth Bolete (Boletus subvelutipes)

Observer

pcpalmer3

Date

June 11, 2021 12:13 PM EDT

Description

ID=82591114
Under old decaying English beech. First cross-section photo was at 5 seconds, the second was at 30 seconds.

Comments

Nice work - yes, definitely deserving of special attention!

Posted by sigridjakob almost 3 years ago

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