Painted Suillus

(Suillus spraguei)

Conservation Status
Painted Suillus
 
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
           
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Painted Suillus is a common “Slippery Jack mushroom”. It is found from summer to early fall in mixed and coniferous forests in northeastern United States and adjacent Canadian provinces west to Minnesota. It grows on the ground, alone or in groups, under eastern white pine. It obtains its nutrients from the rootlets of trees (mycorrhizal).

The cap is convex at first with the margin rolled under. As it matures the cap flattens out. The mature cap is 1¼ to 4¾ wide and broadly convex, flat, or slightly depressed in the middle. Unlike other Slippery Jack mushrooms (genus Suillus), the cap is dry, not slimy. It is densely covered by large, pink to brick-red scales. The scales are composed of matted hair-like fibers (fibrils). They readily wash away in the rain revealing a dull yellow background. There are sometimes remnants of the protective pore covering (partial veil) hanging from the margin. As the cap ages the background color fades to tan or whitish and the scales fade to reddish-brown.

The stalk is firm, solid, firm, and dry. It is 1¼ to 4¾ long and to 1 thick, usually the same thickness at the top and bottom, sometimes wider at the bottom. The remains of the partial veil forms a whitish or gray, cottony ring around the stalk. The stalk is yellow with reddish scales above the ring. Below the ring it is pale yellow or grayish and is streaked with red or reddish-brown fibrils. It does not have glandular dots or smears, and does not change color when bruised.

The flesh is thick and yellow. It often turns pinkish when bruised. It is edible but people disagree about whether it is worth it.

As with all boletes (Order Boletales) there are no gills. Instead, there is a sponge-like layer of tubes on the underside of the cap. The layer is covered with a whitish partial veil at first, but this tears away as the mushroom matures. The layer is broadly attached to the stalk (adnate) or slightly continues down the stalk (decurrent). The tubes are light yellow, to 5 16 deep, and have large, angular, 1 32 to 3 16 wide openings (pores). They are more or less radially arranged. They turn reddish or reddish brown with age or when bruised.

The spore print is brown.

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat and Hosts
 
 

 

 
     
 
Ecology
 
 

Season

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

 
  1/24/2023      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Common

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Kingdom Fungi (fungi)  
  Subkingdom Dikarya  
  Division Basidiomycota (club fungi)  
  Subdivision Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms)  
  Class Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies)  
  Subclass Agaricomycetidae  
  Order Boletales (boletes and allies)  
  Suborder Suillineae  
  Family Suillaceae  
  Genus Suillus (slippery Jacks)  
       
 

Painted Suillus was originally named Boletus spraguei in 1872. The next year the name was changed to Boletus pictus. In 1898 in was transferred to the genus Suillus, and became Suillus pictus. In 1945, the original species epithet was restored and it became Suillus spraguei.

 
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Boletinus pictus

Boletus pictus

Boletus spraguei

Suillus pictus

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

Eastern Painted Suillus

Painted Slipperycap

Painted Suillus

Red and Yellow Suillus

 
 

 

 
 

The common name of the genus Suillus is “Slippery Jack”. This refers to the slimy cap, a characteristic shared by most mushrooms in the genus. The one outlier in Minnesota is Painted Suillus (Suillus spraguei).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Mycorrhizal

A symbiotic, usually beneficial relationship between a fungus and the tiny rootlets of a plant, usually a tree.

 

Partial veil

A protective covering over the gills or pores of a developing mushroom. At maturity it disappears, collapses into a ring around the stalk, or wears away into a cobwebby covering and ring zone.

 
 
Visitor Photos
 
           
 

Share your photo of this fungus.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.
 
 

April Carroll

 
 

This mushroom is growing in the wetlands area of my property. I thought I had it identified as Dryad’s Saddle, but it is growing on the ground and not on a tree.

  Painted Suillus  
           
    Painted Suillus   Painted Suillus  
           
    Painted Suillus   Painted Suillus  
           
    Painted Suillus   Painted Suillus  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
 

Cap

 
    Painted Suillus      
           
 

Stalk

 
    Painted Suillus      

 

Camera

     
 
Slideshows
 
 
     
     

 

slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

Share your video of this mammal.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.
 
 

 

 
     
     
       
       
 
Other Videos
 
  Bolete & Suillus Mushroom Identification with Adam Haritan
Learn Your Land
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 25, 2016

Bolete and suillus mushrooms are sought out by many foragers throughout the summer months. In this video, I briefly discuss bolete mushroom identification while expanding upon two edible suillus species — the painted suillus (Suillus pictus) and the dotted stalk suillus (Suillus granulatus).

Follow Adam Haritan online here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/learnyourland/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/learnyourland
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/learnyourland/
Store: http://wildfoodism.bigcartel.com/
Website: http://learnyourland.com/
Email newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/i/8F756D78F98F8632

   
  Painted Suillus
Mike's Nature Journal
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 19, 2015

Also called Painted Bolete.

   
  Painted Suillus
Mark Robie
 
   
 
About

Published on Oct 7, 2013

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this fungus.

 
  This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
  April Carroll
9/6/2018

Location: Ross Allen Lake, Lac du Flambeau, Wisconsin

This mushroom is growing in the wetlands area of my property. I thought I had it identified as Dryad’s Saddle, but it is growing on the ground and not on a tree.

I went out and pulled one up. I am pretty sure now it is some sort of bolete, possibly red-cracked bolete. The indentations in the caps may be related to the numerous chipmunks, red squirrels or slugs here.

Painted Suillus  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
   

 

 

Binoculars


Created: 9/20/2018

Last Updated:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved.