''Boletellus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

fungi A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from ...

in the family Boletaceae. The genus has a widespread distribution, especially in

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

regions, and contains about 50 species. The genus was first described by American mycologist

William Alphonso Murrill William Alphonso Murrill (October 13, 1869 – December 25, 1957) was an American mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Agaricales and Polyporaceae. In 1904, he became the assistant Curator at the New York Botanical Ga ...

in 1909. The genus name means "small Boletus".

Description

According to Murrill's definition of the genus, species of ''Boletellus'' have an annual fruit body that grows on wood and a

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

that is centrally placed. The cap surface is floccose-verrucose (covered with tufts of hairs or warts) and yellowish. The fruit body flesh is light colored and fleshy. The tubes on the underside of the cap are angular, depressed, yellowish, and covered with a partial veil. The spores of ''Boletellus'' are

oblong An oblong is a non-square rectangle. Oblong may also refer to: Places * Oblong, Illinois, a village in the United States * Oblong Township, Crawford County, Illinois, United States * A strip of land on the New York-Connecticut border in the Unit ...

ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that may be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface; that is, a surface that may be defined as the ...

, smooth, and rust-colored. The stem is solid (i.e., not hollow), white, and not reticulate. Additional characteristics of the genus have been delineated or amended since its original description over 100 years ago: spores have longitudinal ridges or "wings", are inamyloid, and rarely dextrinoid (staining deep reddish to reddish brown in Melzer's reagent). Species usually have hymenial cystidia present, and clamp connections are typically absent (with the exception of '' B. fibuliger''). Murrill placed '' Boletellus ananas'' (formerly ''Boletus ananas'') as the sole and

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. Singer's fourth edition (1986) of his ''Agaricales in Modern Taxonomy'' included 33 species, which were classified into

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depending on moisture content, scaliness of the cap or amount of ornamentation on the stem. Although some species of ''Boletellus'' are rated as

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

, none are considered choice.

Similar genera

In general, Boletes usually have smooth spores, but ''Boletellus'', '' Austroboletus'', ''

Strobilomyces ''Strobilomyces'' is a genus of boletes (mushrooms having a spongy mass of pores under the cap). The only well-known European species is the type species '' S. strobilaceus'' (also named ''S. floccopus''), known in English as "old man of the wood ...

'', and '' Heimioporus'' are exceptions to this. ''Hemioporus'' species have pitted or reticulate spores, ''Strobilomyces'' species have spiny and reticulate spores, and ''Austroboletus'' species have pitted spores, in comparison to the ridged spores of ''Boletellus'' species.

Species

Here is a list of species currently accepted in the genus ''Boletellus'':

References

External links

Boletaceae
a
The New York Botanical Garden
* {{taxonbar , from=Q1845830 Boletales genera