Image of Suillus viscidus (L.) Roussel 1796

Description:

Slo.: siva lupljivka - syn: Boletus laricinus Berkeley, Boletus aeruginascens Secretan ex Opatowski - Habitat: Near mixed wood edge, alpine pasture, in low grass; moderately steep mountain slope, southwest aspect; calcareous, fairy skeletal ground; sunny and relatively warm place; limestone bedrock; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 5-7 deg C, elevation 905 m (3.000 feet), alpine phytogeographical region.Substratum: soil.Comments: Suillus viscidus is not a rare find in Slovenia. It is strictly bound to Larix decidua trees and best recognized by large angular pores and the fact that it is, frankly speaking, an ugly mushroom of indefinite color somewhere among dirty white, gray, beige or pale brown. The whole mushroom is like this. When I first found it I didn't take pictures of it because I thought it was already decayed and therefore determination impossible. But already young pilei look like this. There were more than 10 pilei present at the location, mostly solitary, on an area of about 6 by 6 m. All of them grew under the canopies of Larix decidua or close to them. Pilei diameter 3 - 8 cm, surface viscid, cuticle peels very easily; stem 4 - 9 cm tall, 10 - 17 mm in diameter; taste mild, mushroomy; smell indistinctive; SP faint, brownish, oac could not be determined.Spores smooth. Dimensions: 9,5 [10,7 ; 11,2] 12,4 x 4,3 [4,7 ; 4,8] 5,1 microns; Q = 2 [2,3 ; 2,4] 2,6; N = 36; C = 95%; Me = 11 x 4,7 microns; Qe = 2,3. Olympus CH20, NEA 100x/1.25, magnification 1.000 x, oil, fresh material; in water. AmScope MA500 digital camera.Herbarium: Mycotheca and lichen herbarium (LJU-Li) of Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vena pot 2, Ljubljana, Index Herbariorum LJFRef.:(1) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.3. Verlag Mykologia (1991), p 84. (2) G.J. Krieglsteiner (Hrsg.), Die Grosspilze Baden-Wrttembergs, Band 2., Ulmer (2000), p 306. (3) R. Phillips, Mushrooms, Macmillan (2006), p 294. (4) S. Buczacki, Collins Fungi Guide, Collins (2012), p 414.