Wolfe's bolete

What it is

Fistulinella wolfeana is a bolete with pink to rose tubes and pores that turn orange or reddish when touched. It is easily confused with Tylopilus species, which share the rose tubes and the colour change. It grows in ectomycorrhizal association with subtropical oak and oak-pine forest.

Food use in Mexico

The 2016 study in the Revista Mexicana de Micología recorded the species as food for the first time, in the Otomi communities of Tesquedó, Xajay and Tenasdá in Amealco de Bonfil, Querétaro. It is gathered in the rainy season and sold locally as food. The catalogue records roasting, sun-drying and hanging to preserve it. The sources read for this page did not confirm those preparation methods, and a regional ethnomycology source would be needed to check them.

Wikipedia lists the species as edible and names the Otomi of Amealco as eating it. The catalogue gives no safety statement beyond the record of use.

Conservation

The IUCN Red List entry says the species does not meet the criteria for a threatened category. The Global Fungal Red List Initiative, as cited by Wikipedia, rates it Near Threatened because of habitat fragmentation. Gathering for sale therefore sits alongside a habitat that is being broken up, and the sources do not measure either effect.

Safety

Because Fistulinella can be confused with Tylopilus, identification of the whole specimen is the main safety step. This page does not establish that Wolfe's bolete is safe to eat for any reader, and it gives no preparation that makes an unidentified bolete safe.