Boletus luteocupreus
Boletus luteocupreus Bertea & Estadès
Boletaceae
Conservation status. Critically Endangered [CR B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)].
Morphology and biology. Cap up to 15 cm in diameter, hemispherical, convex or flat-convex, blueing when bruised. Stipe central, ovoid to clavate, yellow, surface blueing when bruised, covered with red network. Flesh lemon yellow or yellowish, strongly and quickly blueing when exposed to air. Tubes yellow, pores red or orange red, blueing when damaged. Basidiospores 12–18.5 × 5.5 μm. Mycorrhizal with oaks (Quercus) or sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa).
Habitats and populations. Sweet chestnut woodlands and thermophilous oak forests.
Distribution in Bulgaria. Balkan Range (Western), West Frontier Mts (Ograzhden Mt), Belasitsa Mt; up to 900 m.
General distribution. Europe, mostly in the S regions (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland).
Threats. Limited distribution, forest cutting, habitat loss and degradation due to intensive tourism and infrastructure development. Fruiting bodies are often damaged by the parasitic fungus Sepedonium chrysospermum.
Conservation measures taken. Included in the Red List of Fungi in Bulgaria. Some localities are in Belasitsa Nature Park and 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 localities; monitoring of the populations.
References. Galli 1998; Assyov 2005; Muñoz 2005; Denchev & Assyov 2010.
Authors: Boris Assyov, Cvetomir M. Denchev
