Subject: boletes in San Diego

From: [email-masked] (Kelly Shepard)
Date: 11 Jan 1996 02:59:02 GMT

Hi. This is my first post, and  probably a somewhat naive request. I live in
San Diego and noticed a large group of "boletes" growing in my friend's
backyard. I was quite excited because this was the first time I'd ever seen
one. The caps were tan and the undersides of the cap 
 were yellowish. They looked mature.Anyway, does anyone know what species this
 might be, or which species are common in the San Diego area? 
I'm sorry I don't have a more detailed description, but I didn't want to touch 
them.

Kelly
.

---

From: [email-masked] (Steve Pencall)
Date: 12 Jan 1996 22:01:38 GMT

In article <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Kelly  
Shepard) writes:
> Hi. This is my first post, and  probably a somewhat naive request. I  
live in San Diego and noticed a large group of "boletes" growing in my  
friend's backyard. I was quite excited because this was the first time I'd  
ever seen one. The caps were tan and the undersides of the cap were  
yellowish. They looked mature.Anyway, does anyone know what species this  
might be, or which species are common in the San Diego area? I'm sorry I  
don't have a more detailed description, but I didn't want to touch them.
> .. 

Kelly,

First of all, you can touch ANY mushroom, even the most poisonous Amanita  
without fear of absorbing toxins through the skin.  As far as is known,  
toxic reactions are manifested only by ingestion of the mushroom.  Of  
course, common sense and good hygiene would dictate washing your hands  
after handling a suspected toxic species.  Incidentally, no known bolete  
is DEADLY poisonous, although some have caused gastrointestinal distress  
in some people.

I am curious as to how you came to the conclusion that this mushroom is a  
"bolete" since your post did not make reference to the presence of pores  
on the underside of the cap, which is the principle identifying  
characteristic of all boletes.

Assuming that the mushrooms DO have pores, are the pores elongated  
radially (like the spokes of a wheel) away from the central stipe (stem)?   
Are there glandular dots (like flyspecks) on the stipe?  If so, it is  
probably a species of Suillus.  Is there a pine (true pines = Pinus  
species) planted nearby?  If it is a Monterey pine (P. radiata), then  
there is a high probability that the mushroom is S. pungens (slippery  
jack) which is edible, but hardly incredible.  The identity of the nearby  
pine, if any, is a useful aid to identification.

I would suggest that you use any guide to western tree identification and  
--Mushrooms Demystified, 2nd Ed-- by David Arora (Ten Speed Press).

Steven Pencall
<[email-masked]>
Editor, The Spore Print
Journal of The Los Angeles Mycological Society

"Leave the beaten path and dive into the woods"
--Alexander Graham Bell