Boletus dupainii
Boletus dupainii Boud.
Boletaceae
Conservation status. Endangered [EN B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Cap up to 10 cm in diameter, hemisphaerical to convex, bright red to blood red, more or less shiny, blueing when bruised. Stipe central, clavate, cylindrical or tapering downwards, yellow to yellowish orange or orange in the upper part, with fine red or orange red granules, surface blueing when bruised. Flesh lemon yellow or yellowish, blueing when exposed to air. Tubes yellow, pores red or orange red, blueing when damaged. Basidiospores 10–13 × 4.5–5.5 μm. Mycorrhizal with oaks (Quercus).
Habitats and populations. Inhabits thinned, light thermophilous oak woodlands on poor shallow soils.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Black Sea Coast (Northern), Balkan Range (Eastern), Tundzha Hilly Country; up to 400 m.
General distribution. Europe (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland), Asia Minor (Turkey).
Threats. Limited distribution, forest cutting, habitat loss due to intensive tourism and infrastructure development. Fruiting bodies are often severely damaged or destroyed by the parasitic fungus Sepedonium chrysospermum.
Conservation measures taken. Species whose habitats need priority protection according to the Biological Diversity Act. Included in the Red List of Fungi in Bulgaria. The locality in the Eastern Balkan Range is within Sinite Kamani Nature Park. Some localities are in sites 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.
Note. Included in the list of 33 threatened fungal species in Europe, candidates for listing in Appendix 1 of the Bern Convention.
References. Engel et al. 1983; Dahlberg & Croneborg 2003; Assyov 2005; Muñoz 2005; Denchev & Assyov 2010.
Authors: Boris Assyov & Cvetomir M. Denchev
