File:Baorangia bicolor (Kuntze) G. Wu, Halling & Zhu L. Yang 635236 2016-07-13.jpg

Baorangia bicolor (Kuntze) G. Wu, Halling & Zhu L. Yang

Image location: North Park, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania, USA

These were found about ½ mile away from observation 244232, at the Deer Browse 2 shelter rather than the Round Top shelter. Both have been regularly identified as “bicolors” but I do not think they are the same species. The red on these is just a little pinker, the stems are uniformly clavate/bulbous, the flesh is much denser, and they react to the dryness with caps that fissure rather than just growing pale. In addition, the tube layers on those were thin (around 2 mm) but the tubes on these are vanishingly tiny (around ¾ mm) even though these are physically larger. To be fair, the chemical tests yielded almost identical results and I leave open the possibility that this patch simply produces vastly larger versions of the same mushroom, which I have only gotten to see in baby form.

Note the similarities to observation 243105, which was found several miles away at Hartwood Acres.

Found in grass and moss between oaks. It’s been quite dry but I found a lot of boletes around the park nevertheless. It seems that they’re pushing out now despite the dryness, but about 3 weeks later. This ground was merely dry but not baked hard. North Park by the Round Top shelter.

NOTE: I have roped off a few specimens in order to document their growth. No one has ever seen a fully mature mushroom from this patch because they get mowed so often. Many thanks to the North Park authorities for cooperating. I will try to update the observation with daily photos.

Mycelium was white. The red on the cap and stipe was a pure, bright red with occasional pink shadings but no orange. The cap got more yellow tan with age and fissured in a very pronounced way from the heat and dry.

Cap flesh was yellow, and the stem flesh was a pronounced yellow (with red larval tunnels). In some specimens the difference was hard to see. The mushroom had no distinctive smell or flavor. The texture was … wonderful. This is one of those intensely desirable mushrooms that fills your inner chef with greed. I know from experience that they cook up slimy when fresh, but they dry wonderfully and are ideal when used in that format. Perhaps half the flavor of a true edulis (which is pretty high on my personal scale).

The pores did not bruise at all. The tube layer is fabulously thin, no more than ¾ mm on even the largest specimen (all are young and have unopened pores). The measurements from the largest specimen were:

HEIGHT: 7 cm CAP WIDTH: 8 cm CONTEXT: 19 mm (almost 2 cm) TUBES: <1 mm (maybe ¾ mm?)

White mycelium. Stem red all the way up until right near the pores, where it became very yellow. No reticulation. All stems were heavily bulged – clavate to almost bulbous. This is a very marked contrast to the other bicolor collection today (observation 244232), which have much smaller stems by proportion and are uniformly pillar-shaped.

AMMONIA The reactions were weak across the board.

Ammonia on Cap Skin: No reaction Ammonia on Stipe Skin: No reaction, or maybe a little brown Ammonia on Pores: No reaction, or possibly a little darker yellow. Ammonia on Cap Context: No reaction, or possibly a little darker yellow. Ammonia on Stipe Context: Brown

KOH on Cap Skin: Orange. KOH on Stipe Skin: Orange Red. KOH on Pores: Orange. KOH on Cap Context: Orange, but faint. KOH on Stipe Context: Orange-red, and very distinct.

FeCl3 on Cap Skin: Olive green. FeCl3 on Stipe Skin: Olive green. FeCl3 on Pores: Olive green. FeCl3 on Cap Context: Olive green. FeCl3 on Stipe Context: Olive green.

For more information about this, see the observation page at Mushroom Observer. English | español | français | italiano | македонски | മലയാളം | português | +/−