Boletus depilatus
Boletus depilatus Redeuilh
Xerocomus depilatus (Redeuilh) Binder & Besl
Boletaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Cap up to 8 cm in diameter, hemispherical to convex, pale brown to brown, often irregularly wrinkled, unchanging when bruised. Stipe central, cylindrical or tapering towards the base, often curved, dirty white, often yellow in the upper part, usually with reddish ring-like zone in the upper half. Flesh white or whitish, unchanging when exposed to air. Tubes and pores yellow, unchanging when bruised. Basidiospores 11.5–15 × 4.5–6 μm. Mycorrhizal with Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis) or European hop-hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia).
Habitats and populations. Thermophilous broadleaf forests. Fruit-bodies appear solitary.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Balkan Range (Western), Belasitsa Mt; up to 800 m.
General distribution. W and C Europe, Mediterranean area, Balkan Peninsula.
Threats. Limited distribution, forest cutting, habitat loss and degradation. Fruiting bodies do not appear every year and are often severely damaged or destroyed by the parasitic fungus Sepedonium chrysospermum.
Conservation measures taken. Included in the Red List of Fungi in Bulgaria. The locality in the Balkan Range is situated in Skaklya Protected Site. The other locality is in a site of the European ecological network Natura 2000 in Bulgaria.
Conservation measures needed. Sustainable management and conservation of the habitat and of the known locations; monitoring of the populations.
References. Ladurner & Simonini 2003; Assyov 2005; Denchev & Assyov 2010.
Authors: Boris Assyov & Cvetomir M. Denchev
