Pine Bolete

The fungus produces spore-bearing fruit bodies (i.e. mushrooms) above ground under pine trees in summer and autumn. It has a red-brown to maroon-coloured cap and a large and bulbous stipe, covered with coarse orange-red reticulation. As with other boletes, the size of the fruiting body is variable.

The fungus is found throughout Europe and western Asia. It grows predominantly in coniferous forests on sandy soil, forming ectomycorrhizal associations in symbiosis with living trees by enveloping the tree's underground roots with sheaths of fungal tissue. Host trees include various species of pine, the European silver fir and European spruce, as well as deciduous trees such as chestnut trees, oak and beech. B. pinophilus is edible, and may be preserved and cooked.