A small olive-brown bolete that grows directly out of the common earthball, Scleroderma citrinum. Its suede-like cap cracks with age, and its pores turn from yellow to reddish brown. It lacks the stem surface layer found in other boletes, which is why it was placed in its own genus, one of the earliest-diverging lineages of Boletaceae.
Reported edible but not recommended, because it grows on the common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum), which is poisonous and causes gastrointestinal upset. MushroomExpert gives no edibility information.
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Parasitic on fruitbodies of the common earthball (Scleroderma citrinum), growing out of the host fruitbody; July to September.
Distribution
Europe, where it was originally described from France and is widespread. In North America, fairly widespread east of the Great Plains; rare.
Characteristics
Cap: 2.5-7 cm, convex; dry, suede-like, cracking with age; yellowish brown with an olive tint, sometimes bruising reddish; margin inrolled when young. Pores: yellow becoming olive-yellow, then brown to reddish brown, not bruising; angular, 1-2 per mm; tubes 3-6 mm. Stem: 3-8 cm long, 1-2 cm thick, often curved, colored like the cap with fine brown fibrils often in chevron patterns. Flesh: pale yellow, slowly turning chrome yellow; reddish in the stem base. Spore print: olive brown. Spores: 13-21 x 4-6 µm, boletoid-fusiform, smooth.
