About this fungus
Orange Birch Bolete is a fungus in the Boletaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A robust birch bolete with a tawny-orange cap, an overhanging cap margin and a tall pale stem covered in dark woolly scabers.
What to check
Confirm pores rather than gills, birch nearby, and brown-black shaggy scabers on the pale stem. Cut flesh changes slowly, often greying and then darkening; the stem base may develop blue-green tones. The young grey pores become ochre and can mark pinkish-brown after handling. There is no ring or volva.
Variation
Cap colour ranges from yellow-orange to tawny or orange-brown. A rare very pale form occurs. Flesh reactions take time and vary in strength, so the host tree, cap margin and stem scabers should be considered together.
Lookalikes
Brown Birch Bolete has a brown rather than orange cap and usually much weaker flesh changes. Other orange-capped Leccinum can look extremely similar and may need host information, microscopy or DNA, especially outside Europe. Do not rely on cap colour alone.
Habitat and range
Ectomycorrhizal with birch, often on acidic heath, woodland edges and scrub as well as birch woodland. The name is used principally for a Eurasian species, and similar North American fungi may not be identical.
Food safety
Edible.
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.
Photographs
Aorg1961 / CC BY-SA 4.0
Aorg1961 / CC BY-SA 4.0