Pine Bolete
A great tasting mushroom that looks and tastes like the Penny Bun, the slight differences are the cap being red/brown instead of dark brown and the off white, slightly red stem.
Scientific Name – Boletus pinophilus
Common Names:
Pine Bolete (EN), Cap Tyllog Pinwydd (CY), Borowik Sosnowy (PL), Vörösbarna Vargánya (HU)
Please note that each and every mushroom you come across may vary in appearance to these photos.
Cap
7-12 cm. White when very young turning dark grey/brown until becoming mainly red with maturity. It is usually more red than brown which can be the only way to differentiate it from the Penny Bun.
Pores
Has tiny white pores which will yellow with age.
Stem
10-14 cm long, 4-7 cm diameter. The stem can be tapering, parallel or barrel shaped but is always quite stout and is usually off white to slightly red/orange with white, mesh like reticulation.
Flesh
White, firm flesh.
Habitat
Boletus pinophilus is the rarest of the porcini-like mushrooms in Europe, though is found across temperate regions. It is found in Britain, where it is more common in Scotland, and in France, where it is more common in the south, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast in Russia, and Ukraine. The bolete is considered vulnerable in the Czech Republic. It extends into Asia Minor and southwestern Asia specifically as far as the Perm Krai in central Russia, and Irkutsk Oblast in Siberia. It is also found in exotic pine plantations (such as Pinus sylvestris) in eastern North America, Mexico, Chile, South Africa and New Zealand. Native populations from China and North America have been mostly confirmed as other distinct species.
Possible Confusion
The Penny Bun (Boletus edulis), pictured, or the Summer Bolete (Boletus reticulatus) both look very similar, the Pine Bolete has a more red cap than the dark brown of the Penny Bun or lighter grey/brown of the Summer Bolete.
Taste / Smell
Strong and mushroomy.
Other Facts
In March 2025 the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) added 1000 fungal species to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN (Global) Conservation Status of Pine Bolete (Boletus pinophilus) is: LC – Least Concern, with stable population.
