Bay bolete

With its large smooth bay-brown or chestnut coloured cap, Boletus badius is instantly recognisable. When immature, the caps are slightly downy. Growing to between 5 and 15 cm in diameter, Bay bolete caps have firm, pale flesh that turns slightly blue when cut or broken. Cap and stem flesh are whitish or sometimes yellowish when first cut through, turning vinaceous just beneath the cap cuticle and slightly blue in the region directly above the tubes and in the stem apex. At first pale yellow but usually turning blue when cut, the tubes of the Bay bolete spaced at 1 to 2 per mm. The tubes terminate in pale-yellow angular pores, which turn blue-green when bruised. The colour change is sudden and most marked in mature specimens, and if you touch the pores a deep blue stain is left on your hands. The brown stipe or stem of Boletus badius is covered in fine cottony threads that give it a streaky appearance. There is no ring, and the stem is more or less even in diameter, although often slightly curved, most particularly near to the base. Typically 2 to 3 cm in diameter, the stems of this bolete range from 5 to 15 cm in height. The flesh inside the stem is white or pale lemon and turns slightly blue when it is cut.