Edible mushroom - beginner Season - summer to autumn Common names orange oak bolete, dark aspen bolete, red scaber stalk, red-capped scaber stalk
Scientific name meaning: Leccinum comes for the Italian Leccino, which was used to describe rough-stemmed boletes. Aurantiacum is from the Latin Aurantiacus, meaning the colour of an orange fruit
Habitat  A mycorrhizal fungus that associates with oak, aspen, poplar, willow beech and birch. |
Overall structure and growth  A large, solid mushroom that can appear individually or in groups. |
Cap  The rust orange cap can reach 5 to 15cm across. It starts off almost sphercial and then becomes convex before flattening out. The edge of the cap of the cap overhangs the pore surfaces by a few millimetres causing a ragged effect at the margins. |
Pores, tubes and spores  The white, circular pores and tubes age through cream and finally brown. They have pink-grey to dark grey bruising when handled or damaged and an adnexed or adnate attachment to the stem. The spore print is buff-olive. |
Stem  The stem can start off quite keg-shaped and straightens to be more cylindrical as it ages. It can reach up to 25cm in tall and 5cm wide. White to cream in colour, it is covered in woolly dark rust-brown scales that go more dark brown with age. |
Flesh and smell  The flesh is firm and white and bruises slowly to dark-grey when cut. The smell is pleasant. |
Possible lookalikes  The orange birch bolete bolete (Leccinum versipelle), pictured, looks very similar but only associates with birch. Its cap is a much paler orange and the woolly scales on the stipe are black. However, it is also edible. |
Use as a food This is a good edible but must be thoroughly cooked Hazards Must be thoroughly cooked to avoid digestive problems
Use in herbal medicine and medicine None known. If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner Other uses None known at time of writing Importance to other species Food sources of many invertebrates
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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