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Mushrooms

Boletinus grisellus

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Boletinus grisellus, the gray larch bolete, is a bolete that grows under larch in China, Japan and eastern North America. Some references describe it as edible. No species-specific preparation is documented.

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Two whole mushrooms and two lengthwise halves show mottled caps, yellow-brown stems, pale flesh and angular pores on a warm ivory background.

Overview

Boletinus grisellus is a bolete of the larch woods. Its cap is dry or slightly sticky and grey-white to olive. The pores are pale grey and can run down the stem, and the stem and flesh are pale. Descriptions tie it to larch, Larix, and to wet, boggy ground. In North America the common name is tamarack, which is the local name for eastern larch.

The species is often placed in the genus Suillus. A 1996 molecular study moved it into Suillus, and specialist works and university collections still use that name. Species Fungorum currently lists the name under Boletinus and gives the reverse synonym relationship. This entry keeps the catalogue name and notes the conflict, because the name in use depends on the taxonomic source. A 2025 multigene revision reports that species associated with larch are spread across continents, so a record from one region may not show which species a local name refers to.

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Where it grows

Records come from Heilongjiang in north-east China, from Yamanashi in Japan, and from eastern Canada and the eastern and north-central United States. The type was collected at Natick, Massachusetts. In North America it has been recorded from Canada south to Pennsylvania and west to Minnesota, under or near tamarack, often in wet bog and fen settings. Minnesota herbarium vouchers were collected in late September 2014, and New York State Museum specimens in October.

The fruiting window in these records is late summer and autumn. A Newfoundland account describes a September to October peak that is uncommon and irregular. The Japanese specimen was collected on 18 September 2018. These dates describe local collections and do not give a fixed season for the species as a whole.

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Food status

The Liangshui reserve checklist in Heilongjiang lists the species in larch forest as edible, and the Chinese 2026 catalogue index includes it on an edible checklist that has not been independently assessed. North American sources describe it as edible too. One Newfoundland account says its author had not eaten it and was reporting the published status only, so the claim rests on reports rather than on tested experience.

The sources reviewed give no recipe, dish or preparation method for this species. No culinary tradition for it is documented, and recipes for other Suillus species should not be applied to it. No species-specific adverse report or toxicity warning was found in the reviewed sources. That absence is not proof of safety, particularly because identification of this group is difficult.

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Identification and safety

Boletes of this kind are identified from a combination of characters, and their appearance changes with age and reference. The descriptions here are not a field key. A photograph or a written description cannot establish the species, and wild material should not be gathered for eating on the strength of this page.

Use of the ingredient should rest on correctly identified, food-grade supply. Nothing on this page is a safety assessment or a foraging instruction.

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Places

Heilongjiang

Documented use · Region evidence

Listed as edible in the Liangshui reserve checklist; no collection season given.

See Heilongjiangon the mapLocation source 1 →

Yamanashi

Historical attestation · Region evidence

Culture-collection specimen record only; no food use reported.

See Yamanashion the mapLocation source 1 →

Natick, Massachusetts

Historical attestation · Locality evidence

Type locality of the name; no food use recorded there.

See Natick, Massachusettson the mapLocation source 1 →

Eastern North America

Documented use · Region evidence

Herbarium and regional records, with edibility reported in North American accounts.

See Eastern North Americaon the mapLocation source 1 → · Location source 2 →

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