About this fungus
Mottled Bolete is a fungus in the Boletaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A birch-associated bolete with a distinctly patchy grey to dark-brown cap and a pale stem dotted with almost black scabers.
What to check
Confirm pores rather than gills, birch nearby, uneven cap mottling and dark stem scabers. Cut flesh often flushes pink in the cap and develops blue-green colour toward the stem base. The pores can mark pinkish or wine-brown after handling. There is no ring or volva.
Variation
The cap can be pale grey-brown or very dark and its mottling changes with moisture and age. Rare pale forms occur. Flesh reactions can be slow, so they should support rather than replace the other characters.
Lookalikes
Orange Birch Bolete is more orange but can share blue-green stem-base staining. Brown Birch Bolete has a more even brown cap and usually weaker colour changes. Other birch Leccinum overlap, and microscopy or DNA may be needed for atypical specimens.
Habitat and range
Ectomycorrhizal with birch, especially on damp mossy soil in woodland, scrub and bog margins. The app removes the unsupported American aspen claim from the older record.
Food safety
Edible and good.
Use this profile to learn what to examine and compare, not as proof that a mushroom is safe to eat. Check the whole specimen and every important lookalike before reaching an identification.
Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: