Leccinum piceinum (placeholder for spruce)

Dull orange cap. Likes spruce. Flesh stains red, darkening to purple-gray or black, esp. by stem.

SKU: Leccinum aurantiacum Categories: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Description

Genus: Leccinum

Species: piceinum

Common Name:

Tells: Dull orange cap. Likes spruce. Flesh stains red, darkening to purple-gray or black, esp. by stem.

Other Information: White pores age toward brown, & stain brown or red-brown. Stem scabers start white & age through orange, red & finally dark brown/black. Stem sometimes has blue, green, or yellowish stains lower down. L. aurantiacum grows under aspen or pine and has a brighter orange-red cap. This is a “placeholder” name for all spruce-loving, red- or orange-capped Leccinums. Click here for a table listing all the red- and orange-capped Leccinums, including both recognized North American species and the other “placeholder” names we’re using for general categories.

Science Notes: See this Article on the Red-Cap Leccinum Taxonomy Mess. Just about the only thing that’s really clear is the fact that real piceinum is a European species and what you’ve found is something different. Identifying your find to a proper, North American species may be impossible until enough DNA evidence gets compiled to tell what those species are. Who know? Maybe the European one really does span the ocean…

Edibility: Choice, but it turns black when cooked.

CHEMICAL TESTS:

  • NH4OH (Ammonia): No data.
  • KOH: No data.
  • FeSO4 (Iron Salts): No data.

Links:

National Audubon Society Field guide to Mushrooms, Gary Lincoff 0 Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians 0 North American Boletes 199

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