SUILLUS LAKEI var. PSEUDOPICTUS Smith and Thiers, Contr. Toward a Monogr. of N. Am. Sp. of Suillus, p. 33. 1964

Illustrations

Smith, A. H., and H. D. Thiers, A Contribution Toward a Monograph of North American Species of Suillus, pl. 7.

Pileus 5-11 cm broad, convex expanding to plano-convex to plane, to plane with an irregular uplifted margin at maturity; when young covered by conspicuous fibrillose scales, the fibrils or scales appressed near the margin, becoming somewhat squarrose on the disc, in age the yellow context showing between the scales; color of scales brick red to reddish brown ("brick red" to "vinaceous tawny"), in age becoming grayish; margin typically appendiculate with fragments of the veil. Context 1-2 cm thick on the disc, yellow ("barium yellow" to "mustard yellow"), changing to pinkish vinaceous ("pale vinaccous" to "avellaneous" to "testaceous") when exposed. Taste and odor mild.

Tubes 1-1.5 cm long, adnate to slightly decurrent, bright yellow ("amber yellow" to "pinard yellow"), changing to dark yellow ("yellow ocher" to "old gold") with age; pores 1-3 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, concolorous, staining pinkish brown or darker when bruised, angular, radially elongate.

Stipe 3-6 cm long, 1.5-2 cm thick at apex, equal or pinched at the base, solid; surface dry, sometimes obscurely reticulate at the apex, yellow ("amber yellow" to "pinard yellow") with reddish streaks toward the base, base staining bluish when injured, veil submembranous, dry, thin, usually leaving a thin, sometimes evanescent annulus or with fragments remaining attached to the margin of the pileus. Context yellow, sometimes turning blue when exposed.

Spore print olive to olive brown. Spores 7-9 X 3.S-4 µm, pale ochraceous in Melzer's, greenish yellow to ochraceous in KOH, smooth, thin-walled, ellipsoid to subfusiform in face view, ventricose in profile.

Basidia 24-30 X 6-8 µm, two- and four-spored, clavate, hyaline to pale ochraceous in KOH. Hymenial cystidia 36-96 X 6-11 µm, numerous to abundant, typically occurring in bundles with incrustations of rust-brown pigment surrounding the base, content of many staining pale brown in KOH, clavate to more or less cylindric with obtuse to ovate-pointed apices.

Tube trama hyaline, gelatinous in KOH, divergent when young, appearing somewhat interwoven with age. Pileus trama interwoven, homogeneous, except for noticeable laticiferous hyphae, which stain dark brown in Melzer's and KOH. Pileus cuticle differentiated as a trichodermium of scales composed of masses of more or less erect hyphae 5-9 µm wide, no gelatinous subcuticular layer. Stipe cuticle in apical region composed of a layer of fertile basidia with scattered clusters of inconspicuous caulocystidia similar to those on the tubes. Clamp connections absent.

Chemical reactions unknown.

Habit, habitat, and distribution Scattered to gregarious in soil under Douglas fir. Known only from Jackson State Forest in Mendocino County. This variety is less common in the state than the typical one, and, as indicated above, is known only from a relatively small region in the northern coastal forest. It is, however, known from other states in the Pacific Northwest.

Material studied Mendocino County: Largent 169; Thiers 8206, 8282, 8782,14606.

Observations This species differs from the typical variety in having a darker red pileus with more elaborate fibrillose scales on the surface; also, the inner gelatinous layer of the cutis is not as well developed, although there is considerable variation in this character.

Edible.