Boletus shiyong

Overview

Boletus shiyong is a porcini-like bolete native to Yunnan Province in south-west China. It was described in 2013. Its specific epithet is the pinyin for 食用, meaning “edible,” a name chosen in reference to the epithet of Boletus edulis. A 2014 DNA study identified B. shiyong among the species present in a commercial packet of dried Chinese porcini purchased in London. This documents its occurrence in a food product, but does not describe how it was prepared.

Feng and Yang’s 2018 review separately reports that B. shiyong, alongside B. bainiugan and B. sinoedulis, was traditionally collected and consumed by local people in Yunnan, widely traded in free markets and exported to Europe. The review gives no B. shiyong-specific local name, dish or preparation method.

Taxonomy

The species was described in 2013. A 2016 revision of Chinese porcini in the journal Fungal Diversity revised B. bainiugan, B. meiweiniuganjun and B. shiyong, and treated B. meiweiniuganjun as a synonym of B. bainiugan. The name therefore sits in a group of closely related Chinese boletes whose boundaries were revised after the first description.

The catalogue marks the name as a research name that has not been validated against current taxonomy. Names and synonyms in this group should be checked against a nomenclature database before use.

Habitat

Reports describe the species as growing in Yunnan under spruce, Yunnan pine and related trees, and the catalogue describes its ecology as an ectomycorrhizal forest fungus whose exact host association needs verification. The fruiting season is not given in the evidence reviewed, so none is recorded here.

Food use and what remains undocumented

The primary 2014 DNA study recovered B. shiyong among three species identified in a commercial packet of dried Chinese porcini bought in London. Feng and Yang’s 2018 review also reports its traditional collection and consumption by local people in Yunnan and its trade in free markets and export to Europe. The review discusses B. shiyong with other species and gives no species-specific local name, dish or preparation method, so none is supplied here.

Boletes in Yunnan are a varied group, and the evidence reviewed do not separate the edible from the unsafe members of the group for this species. The record is therefore a listing, and it should not be read as a tested preparation or a safety assessment.

Safety and what is not known

The reviewed sources document traditional collection and consumption, but do not give a B. shiyong-specific toxin profile or an independent clinical or toxicological safety assessment. The catalogue is a species listing, not an individual identification or safety check. Boletus identification is difficult; this page does not advise collecting or identifying wild boletes for consumption.