Bronze bolete Boletus aereus

Right now

When to look

From June to September. Favourable temperatures: 16 to 25 °C. It usually fruits 6 to 13 days after at least 20 mm of rain.

Where to look

Habitat

Oak, sweet chestnut, warm sunny areas (lowland/hills)

Soil

Acidic to neutral soils (pH 5.0 to 7.0)

Altitude

0 to 900 m

How to recognise it

Cap 7 to 25 cm, very dark brown, almost black when young, then bistre brown marbled with ochre patches, dry and finely velvety, unchanging when handled. Tubes and pores fine and crowded, pure white then cream and finally greenish yellow, with no bluing when touched. Stem stocky and swollen, ochre-beige to light brown, decorated at the top with a fine net, the same colour or brownish, not very pronounced. Flesh white, very firm, unchanging when cut, smell faint and pleasant. A warmth-loving species of oak and sweet chestnut woods, mostly in summer.

Dangerous look-alikes

• Devil's bolete

  Rubroboletus satanas
  poisonous

  Cap whitish to putty grey, never dark brown; pores orange-red to blood red, swollen stem covered with a red net, flesh slowly bluing when cut and unpleasant smell in mature specimens. Chalky soil, under oak and lime.

• Bitter bolete

  Tylopilus felleus
  inedible

  Pores white turning dirty pink, never greenish yellow, and a dark brown, coarse-meshed net standing out strongly along the whole length of the stem; a fragment of flesh placed on the tongue then spat out is distinctly bitter.

Foraging tips

Always discard any bolete with red or orange pores. In ceps (Boletus edulis, aereus, pinophilus, reticulatus), the flesh is unchanging: a ‘cep’ whose flesh turns blue is not one and should be left where it is. Elsewhere, bluing is not in itself a sign of toxicity — it is normal in other edible boletes such as the bay bolete. Cut the stem at ground level, carry in an airy basket and eat cooked soon after picking.

Model reliability

Reliability for this species: good.

Also in season

• Chanterelle
• Cep (penny bun)
• Parasol mushroom
• Field mushroom
• Horn of plenty
• Winter chanterelle

Where mushrooms are fruiting this week · All species