A large Pacific Northwest bolete with a dark red to brownish-red cap that is slimy when young and velvety later, yellow to greenish-yellow pores, and a tall stem netted near the top. It often appears to grow from well-rotted hemlock logs, but it is mycorrhizal with hemlock roots. It is a well-regarded edible.
Edible, rated highly in modern field guides. Do not eat specimens covered by the white mold Sepedonium ampullosporum. Separate it from Boletus coniferarum, which bruises blue and is very bitter, and from other red-capped boletes; blue-bruising, red-pored boletes should be avoided.
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Habitat
Singly, scattered or in small groups on the ground or on well-decayed conifer logs, especially western and mountain hemlock, occasionally Douglas-fir and western red cedar; mycorrhizal with hemlock. Late summer to autumn.
Distribution
Pacific Coast Ranges from northern California to Alaska, the Cascade Range and interior forests (Wikipedia mentions Manitoba). Also recorded from Japan and Taiwan.
Characteristics
Cap: up to 15 cm, convex flattening with age; slimy when young or moist, dry and velvety later; red to brownish red. Pores: pale yellowish becoming greenish yellow, mustard yellow when injured; tubes up to 2.5 cm. Stem: up to 18 cm long and 4 cm thick, solid, reticulate near the top, usually thickest at the base, bruising darker reddish brown there. Flesh: pale pink, yellow or white, often red under the cap surface, firm. Spore print: olive-brown. Spores: 18-22 x 7-9 µm, smooth, spindle-shaped to elliptical.
