Orange Oak BoleteLeccinum aurantiacum
Traditionally collected in: Russia, Belarus, Poland, Finland and Sweden
Description
A robust bolete with an orange to brick-red cap and a pale stem covered in darker scab-like scales. The cut flesh changes colour.
Where it grows
Associated with broadleaved trees, including aspen, poplar and oak, depending on region and taxonomic treatment.
Mainly from summer into autumn after periods of warm, wet weather.
«Orange Oak Bolete — or something like it?»
If the description above leaves you unsure, do not guess from memory and do not compare by eye with a picture off the internet. Our photo identifier shows several likely candidates with percentages, and names the dangerous lookalikes if there are any — rather than one confident answer.
In detail
Season
Fruits from early June to early November.
What to do with it
This species may not be picked (see «Caution» below), so storing and cooking do not belong here. If you find one: photograph it where it stands, do not cut or dig it up, and remember the spot for your own records — the mycelium fruits there year after year.
Take care
Edible when correctly identified and thoroughly cooked. The flesh can turn grey, blue-grey or almost black after cutting. This is a normal chemical reaction, not a sign of spoilage.
Nothing on this page is an expert opinion, and nothing here confirms that the mushroom you found is edible. Photo identification in this service is a probabilistic hint, not permission to pick or to eat.
Lookalikes
Not poisonous, but bitter enough that one fruitbody spoils a whole pan.
- ·Cut the mushroom lengthways: the flesh of Orange Oak Bolete darkens through blue-grey to nearly black within minutes, while Bitter Bolete only flushes faintly pink.
- ·The cap of Orange Oak Bolete is orange to brick-red; Bitter Bolete is dull buff to tan brown.
- ·The stem of Orange Oak Bolete is pale with blackish scab-like scales; Bitter Bolete has a raised brown net near the top.
- ·In older specimens the pores separate them: Bitter Bolete's turn pink, while Orange Oak Bolete's stay whitish to grey and bruise darker.
Check whether this one is out near you
The foraging forecast changes daily — with rainfall, temperature and the phase of the flush, rather than «it ought to be the season».
Your comment
No sign-up. A question, a correction, an observation — all welcome.
Updated from the FungRadar species reference · not a specialist's determination