Gyroporus castaneus (Bull) Quel. 1886 Chestnut Bolete’
Gyroporus castaneus is a small ‘bolete’ that has a chestnut-brown subvelutinous convex cap that sometimes becomes paler at the margin and upturned. The flesh is white. The hymenium is white becoming yellowish with maturity and becomes depressed around the stem. The stipe is relatively concolorous with the cap, but paler at the apex. It becomes hollow. The “chestnut bolete’ is ectomycorrhizal with oaks, beech, and other broadleaf trees and with conifers in the Pinaceae family. It is a delicious cooked edible with a nutty flavor.
It is common throughout much of the world and is undoubtedly part of a species complex. The name Gyroporus castaneus may in fact prove to be more accurately applied to a European version. In any case, the term ‘chestnut’ refers to the color of the fungus and not to the chestnut tree.
It is in the Gyroporaceae family of the Boletales order.