Boletus parasiticus

Photograph by T. J. Baroni ©1998

An unusual bolete, being parasitic on the false puffball Schleroderma citrinum (=Aurantium). According to Raymor et al. (in Jeffries and Young, 1994: Interfungal Relationships) the presence of the Schleroderma is necessary to stimulate the growth of the bolete. However, the gleba of the "host" is greatly reduced and becomes partly hollow. There are several variants that need to be clarified: a bluing variant, a variant with a strongly viscid pileus (see other photograph), and a variant with a conspicuously dark-dotted stipe.

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