''Suillus grevillei'' ( commonly known as Greville's bolete and larch bolete) is a

mycorrhiza A mycorrhiza (from Greek μύκης ', "fungus", and ῥίζα ', "root"; pl. mycorrhizae, mycorrhiza or mycorrhizas) is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plan ...

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

with a tight, brilliantly coloured cap, shiny and wet looking with its mucous slime layer. The

hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others so ...

easily separates from the

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 muscles, fats and other loose connective tissues, but ...

of the cap, with a central stalk that is quite slender. The species has a ring or a tight-fitting annular zone.

Description

''Suillus grevillei'' is a mushroom with a 5–10 cm (2–4 in)

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 ...

colored from citrus yellow to burnt orange, that is at first hemispherical, then bell-shaped, and finally flattened. It has a sticky

skin Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different ...

, often with

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has been prominent ...

remnants on the edge, short tubes of yellow (possibly staining brownish) which descend down to the bottom of its cylindrical stalk (6–10 x 1–2 cm), which is yellowish above the ring area with streaks of reddish brown below. The flesh is yellow, staining brown. The thin meat has consistency at first but then quickly becomes soft. It has an odor reminiscent of rumpled ''

Pelargonium ''Pelargonium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. ''Geranium'' is also the botanical name and common name of a separa ...

'' geranium leaves. It grows in the soil of mixed forests, not always at the foot of

larch Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains fur ...

(can be quite some distance away) with which it lives in symbiosis. It grows from June until November. ''Suillus grevillei'' is an

edible mushroom Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruit bodies of several species of macrofungi (fungi which bear fruiting structures that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye). They can appear either below ground ( hypogeous) or above gro ...

(without consistency nor flavor) if the slimy cuticle is removed off the cap. This mucousy skin layer is what is known to cause intestinal issues, as is the case with several other ''Suillus'' such as Slippery Jack (''S. luteus'') or Jill (''S. salmonicolor''); often considered to be not worth the work. Its name is derived from

Robert Kaye Greville Dr. Robert Kaye Greville FRSE FLS LLD (13 December 1794 – 4 June 1866) was an English mycologist, bryologist, and botanist. He was an accomplished artist and illustrator of natural history. In addition to art and science he was interest ...

.natura.provincia.cuneo.it (In italian)
accessed 5 August 2008

Habitat and distribution

Grows only under

trees. Widespread in North America and Europe. In Asia, it has been recorded from Taiwan.

Chemistry

The fungus produces grevillin which is characteristic of this fungus. The genetic and enzymatic basis for

atromentin Atromentin is a natural chemical compound found in Agaricomycetes fungi in the orders Agaricales and Thelephorales. It can also be prepared by laboratory synthesis. Chemically, it is a polyphenol and a benzoquinone. Occurrences Atromentin has ...

, the precursor to various pulvinic acid-type pigments, has been characterized (an atromentin synthetase by the name, GreA). A cosmid library (31 249 bp in total) has been made from the genome. The estimated gene density based on the cosmid library is 1 per 3900 bp of genomic DNA. The genome has a GC content of 49.8%.

References

Works in French

* Régis Courtecuisse, Bernard Duhem : ''Guide des champignons de France et d'Europe'' (Delachaux & Niestlé, 1994-2000). * Marcel Bon : ''Champignons de France et d'Europe occidentale'' (Flammarion, 2004) * Dr Ewaldt Gerhardt : ''Guide Vigot des champignons'' (Vigot, 1999) - * Roger Phillips : ''Les champignons'' (Solar, 1981) - * Thomas Laessoe,

Anna Del Conte Anna Del Conte (born 1925) is an Italian-born British food writer whose works cover the history of food as well as providing recipes. Resident in England since 1949, she has been influential in raising the country’s awareness of Italian cuisi ...

: ''L'Encyclopédie des champignons'' (Bordas, 1996) - * Peter Jordan, Steven Wheeler : ''Larousse saveurs - Les champignons'' (Larousse, 1996) - * G. Becker, Dr L. Giacomoni, J Nicot, S. Pautot, G. Redeuihl, G. Branchu, D. Hartog, A. Herubel, H. Marxmuller, U. Millot et C. Schaeffner : ''Le guide des hampignons'' (Reader's Digest, 1982) - * Henri Romagnesi : ''Petit atlas des champignons'' (Bordas, 1970) - ''This article is based on a translation of the corresponding article on the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has articl ...

.''

External links

* * Baura G, Szaro TM, Bruns TD. 1992
''Gastrosuillus laricinius'' is a recent derivative of ''Suillus grevillei'': molecular evidence.
''

Mycologia ''Mycologia'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes papers on all aspects of the fungi, including lichens. It first appeared as a bimonthly journal in January 1909, published by the New York Botanical Garden under the editorship of ...