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This mushroom grows in Oregon's high desert in lodgepole pine forest. It is big, 4-6" high and wide. Bright orange with yellow meat. Definitely a parasol type.

orange mushroom

orange mushroom

Niall C.
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stormy
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    Spore tubes under cap instead of gills, a form of Boletus. – Fiasco Labs Sep 14 '14 at 06:19
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    It can be quite hard to pin down boletes as the color and shape vary a lot in quite a few species. Things that will make it easier include seeing if you can get the spore color, if it changes color when bruised or if it has a distinct odor. It may be worth checking out the king Bolete (Boletus Edulis). There is also a pine bolete (Boletus pinophilus) but the coloring doesn't really match. – Alpar Sep 14 '14 at 15:08
  • @Alpar Neither king bolete nor pine bolete, because both show a white "net" on the stem. This one doesn't. – Stephie Apr 02 '15 at 08:45

2 Answers2

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DISCLAIMER
As all mushrooms are notoriously hard to identify via internet, this is not a free pass to eat everything that you might encounter. Always double check with a good reference book and - preferrable - a local knowledgeable, experienced and certified person. Some mushrooms have a range of colour that varies from one place to another (different soil, micro climate etc.), locals should know about what is typical. If in doubt, enjoy your find, take pictures and have an apple instead.

Based on 20+ seasons of mushroom picking, albeit in Germany, I'd identify this as a Suillus Variegatus (variegated bolete, velvet bolete). According to wikipedia, this species can also be found in Northern America, but the English wikipedia article is not very good, so no link from me here.

The color range is in the yellows with sometimes orange or olive hues or "dusting" on stem and cap, spore tubes are tight, even in older specimen and darkish olive, especially at the ends. May "bleach out" with age, especially in dry wheather. Cap appears "velvety" or "sandy" (German: "Sandröhrling", roughly: sand-tube-mushroom)

Flesh yellow-to-cream coloured, younger ones tend towards orangeish-yellow, older may be lighter, especially in dry conditions. Some blue discoloration when cut or bruised (instantly or within minutes), depending a lot on wheather: more on younger specimen in a rainy season or on humid ground, less to none in older ones after a dry spell. According to various reports, the degree of blueing might be regionally different.

Cap thick, first rounded, then stretched out, up to ca. 5in. Stem thick, solid, but not as "massive" as with boletus edulis or boletus erythropus, more like boletus badius, No net, or other surface structure.

Loves pines.

Edible and tasty, similar to other sullius or boletus, but not as firm as a king bolete. (Again: note disclaimer on top.)

Stephie
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  • Whoa, Stephie! Great answer...I'll get more pictures, not a great time to find these so please be patient. I mean, excellent answer!! – stormy Apr 02 '15 at 19:40
  • @stormy: You are welcome and thanks for the compliment! So we'll go back to this post in a few months? Let's see who finds them first...;-) – Stephie Apr 02 '15 at 19:43
  • @stormy Well, I stumbeled about the first specimens in Karlsruhe (Germany) yesterday - but were too dried out for good pictures. If you had some rain recently (ok, perhaps a stupid question in the Pacific NW) you might consider a hike... Here in the Black Forest it's probably another two weeks. [Dotted stem boletes](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus_luridiformis) are in full swing already, but they are among the earliest anyway. – Stephie Jun 27 '15 at 07:02
  • Stephie...we've had lots of rain...I'll get out there to see if anything's coming up. Would love to find out what all these mushrooms are and you sound like you know a thing or two about mushrooms...gardening... – stormy Jun 28 '15 at 22:40
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The stem doesn't look like a Boletus. I think it might be an old Bay Bolete (Xerocomus Badius).

Crumbs
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  • Shape and color fits. I think it's going to be tricky to say for sure given the pictures. – Martin G Mar 29 '15 at 08:05
  • Disagree. Too light on top, stem way too yellow. Color-wise they should be in the brown-to tan range, never "orangeish" as OP states or yellow all over as the pictures show. Even a specimen as old and dry as this should display *some* blueish discoloration. Related, though. Will research. – Stephie Mar 29 '15 at 13:36
  • I'd forgotten about this question...these mushrooms get big...like a salad plate, become slimy on top and looks like animals eat them. They start out very orange with bright yellow flesh. I'll send more pictures...Thanks! – stormy Mar 29 '15 at 18:15
  • @stormy: Now you got me curious, more pictures and more details, please! I'm in Europe but your question taught me that many mushrom species can be found on both sides of the Atlantic (or, in this case, Pacific) Ocean. – Stephie Apr 01 '15 at 21:44