''Suillus bellinii'', the Champagne bolete, is a pored mushroom of the genus ''

Suillus ''Suillus'' is a genus of basidiomycete fungi in the family Suillaceae and order Boletales. Species in the genus are associated with trees in the pine family (Pinaceae), and are mostly distributed in temperate locations in the Northern Hemispher ...

'' in the family

Suillaceae The Suillaceae are a family of fungi in the order Boletales ( suborder Suillineae), containing the boletus-like ''Suillus'', the small truffle-like '' Truncocolumella'', as well as the monotypic genus '' Psiloboletinus''. As of 2008, there are 5 ...

. It is found in coastal

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

forests of southern Europe.

Description

The

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

is initially convex and irregular, but becomes flatter with maturity, reaching up to 15 cm in diameter. The thick

cuticle A cuticle (), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non- homologous, differing in their origin, structu ...

is brown and marbled with white to gray tones towards the periphery, especially in young specimens. It is very viscid during wet weather and peels easily - characteristics shared by many species of ''Suillus''. The

tubes Tube or tubes may refer to: * ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a ...

are short, while the pores are small and coloured whitish, beige and, with maturity, yellowish. The pores may exude a reddish latex in fresh specimens. The

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 ...

is short, cylindrical and coloured whitish, ornamented with reddish dots along its length. The firm

flesh Flesh is any aggregation of soft tissues of an organism. Various multicellular organisms have soft tissues that may be called "flesh". In mammals, including humans, ''flesh'' encompasses muscle Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as mu ...

is whitish and yellowish in the stipe base and it is said to have a fruity odour and a pleasant taste. It is often infested with insect larvae. In a colour reaction test with

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

solution, the flesh turns crimson. The

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

s are ochre-brown in colour, fusiform, sized 8-10 by 3.5-4.5 μm.

Habitat

''Suillus bellinii'' is a thermophilic fungus, occurring in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

region of

southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...

in coastal

forests. It forms

ectomycorrhizal An ectomycorrhiza (from Greek ἐκτός ', "outside", μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. ectomycorrhizas or ectomycorrhizae, abbreviated EcM) is a form of symbiotic relationship that occurs between a fungal symbiont, or mycobi ...

associations with species of pine including

Aleppo pine ''Pinus halepensis'', commonly known as the Aleppo pine, also known as the Jerusalem pine, is a pine native to the Mediterranean region. Description ''Pinus halepensis'' is a small to medium-sized tree, tall, with a trunk diameter up to , exce ...

(''Pinus halepensis''),

maritime pine ''Pinus pinaster'', the maritime pine or cluster pine, is a pine native to the south Atlantic Europe region and parts of the western Mediterranean. It is a hard, fast growing pine bearing small seeds with large wings. Description ''Pinus pinast ...

(''Pinus pinaster'') and stone pine (''Pinus pinea'').

Edibility

It is reportedly

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 ...

. Removal of the slimy

cap cuticle The pileipellis is the uppermost layer of hyphae in the pileus of a fungal fruit body. It covers the trama, the fleshy tissue of the fruit body. The pileipellis is more or less synonymous with the cuticle, but the cuticle generally describes th ...

is recommended.

Similar species

''Suillus bellinii'' often shares its habitat with '' Suillus mediterraneensis''. The flesh of the latter species is yellow.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1267217 bellinii Fungi described in 1879 Fungi of Europe Edible fungi