Boletus eastwoodiae

Common Name: Satan's Bolete
Synonym: Suillellus eastwoodiae Murrill

Pileus
Cap 10-22 cm in diameter, convex, becoming broadly convex; pale grey to pale olive-buff, pinkish tones sometimes developing in age particularly along the margin, occasionally aereolate near the disc; flesh olive-buff, thick, bruising blue; odor and taste undistinguished.

Hymenophore
Pores fine, dark red, fading in age to reddish-orange, bruising blue.

Stipe
Stipe 7-14 cm tall, base abruptly bulbous, up to 13+cm broad, narrowing to 4-7 cm at the apex; pink to vinaceous reticulations above, pale pinkish tones below, fading in age; flesh same as cap, bruising blue.

Spores
Spores 11-15 x 3.5-6 µm, elliptical, smooth. Spore print olive-brown.

Habitat
Solitary to scattered under oaks, especially Quercus agrifolia (coast liveoak); from late fall to early winter; common in some years, rare in others.

Edibility
Described as toxic in the literature, though some people in the San Francisco Bay Area claim that it can safely be eaten if thoroughly cooked.

Comments
Boletus eastwoodiae is easily recognized by its massive, abruptly bulbous stipe with vinaceous reticulation at the apex. Other important field characters are the pale-colored cap usually with a pinkish margin in age, red pores, and blueing of virtually all parts of the fruiting body when bruised or cut. Boletus pulcherrimus is another robust Boletus species with dark red pores. However, it has a darker cap and lacks an abruptly bulbous stipe base.
The name of a similar European taxa, Boletus satanas, has long been missapplied to our California material. The true Boletus satanas of Europe is distinct from our species and the correct name for our taxa is Boletus eastwoodiae (Murr.) Sacc. & Trott. It was originally described by William Alphonso Murrill in 1910 from a collection made by Alice Eastwood near San Francisco. The name Boletus eastwoodiae has a rather long and tortured history:
Suillellus eastwoodiae (named for the botanist Alice Eastwood) is a Murrill name from 1910. It was transferred to Boletus in 1912 by Saccardo and Trotter. The name Boletus eastwoodiae is the name we (incorrectly) used for years for what we now call Boletus pulcherrimus. When the type specimen of Boletus eastwoodiae was studied, it was found to be the same as what we have been calling Boletus satanas in California. To correct this, Thiers and Halling erected the name Boletus pulcherrimus in 1976.
Recently it's been discovered (well maybe not that recently, if you are familiar with both the European and California material) that what we call Boletus satanas is different from the "real" Boletus satanas of Europe. If you do a comparison of European Boletus satanas with our local taxa you will find that the European material has a different coloration of the cap and lacks the abruptly bulbous base. Molecules apparently confirm the difference (but we have not seen this published). This means that we need another name for "our" Boletus satanas and leaves us with Boletus eastwoodiae (remember the type is actually "our" B. satanas).