Edith's Tips For Hunting The King Boletus
Shortly after the first Fall rains, look for Kings (Boletus edulis) in mature conifer forests located in the wetter parts of your state. If you are in the Rockies, look on the West side of the Continental Divide. If you are in the Pacific Northwest, look on the West side of the Cascade Mountains. If you are on the East Coast, I can’t help you I am only six months old.
Make sure your King’s have a bulbous stem with a reticulate web type pattern. Although very few Boletes are poisonous, most of them are really not that good to eat. To the untrained eye many of them look similar. People often mistake the King with the Leccinum (pronounced, Lex-eye-num) which has a similar shape, but has black tufts on the stem, not a reticulate pattern. The genus of Suillis is also in the Boletacae family and people do eat them. The name “Suillis” is derived from the word “swine” because they look, feel, and taste like a pigs snout.
Kings get wormy fairly quick, so look for them early in the Fall and look for the little ones. Finding a big King without any worms in it is really uncommon. The big ones are easy to find, but the little ones are usually of better quality.
Make sure your King’s have a bulbous stem with a reticulate web type pattern. Although very few Boletes are poisonous, most of them are really not that good to eat. To the untrained eye many of them look similar. People often mistake the King with the Leccinum (pronounced, Lex-eye-num) which has a similar shape, but has black tufts on the stem, not a reticulate pattern. The genus of Suillis is also in the Boletacae family and people do eat them. The name “Suillis” is derived from the word “swine” because they look, feel, and taste like a pigs snout.
Kings get wormy fairly quick, so look for them early in the Fall and look for the little ones. Finding a big King without any worms in it is really uncommon. The big ones are easy to find, but the little ones are usually of better quality.
For more on Boletus edulis Click HERE.
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Amanita muscaria is a red flag that porcini are in the area!
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