Boletus erythropus

Cap	The cap colour of this massive bolete is very variable. It can be dark chocolate brown, pale brown or even, as in this mature specimen, coppery bronze. The cap flesh is yellow, rapidly bluing when cut or bruised. Caps are initially downy and convex, becoming flatter, smooth and shiny as the fruiting body matures. The diameter at maturity varies between 8 and 20 cm.
Tubes and Pores	Orange at first, the round, crowded pores soon become bright red and then rusty brown with age. The spore tubes are lemon yellow, but they very quickly turn blue-green when cut or bruised.
Stipe	Apart from a pale area near the apex, a pattern of tiny red dots covers most of the stem of this mushroom. (A hand lens may be necessary to distinguish the separate dots on some specimens.) Typically 2 to 4 cm in diameter and more or less parallel sided, stems range between 7 and 15 cm tall and have yellow flesh that instantly turns blue-green when cut or bruised.
Spore print	Olive-brown.
Odour/taste	Not distinctive.
Habitat	On acid soils under conifers and occasionally deciduous trees, most often at the edge of a wood or a clearing.
Season	August to October.
Occurrence	Fairly frequent.
Similar species	Boletus satanus has a bulbous, bright red stem; it is poisonous.