White suillus, a delicate mushroom of young pinewoods

Among the slippery jacks, which mostly wear brown or yellow caps, there's one pale exception. This is Suillus placidus (Suillus placidus, listed in our catalog as Suillus placidus), the palest member of the family. When young, its cap is almost white or ivory, which is how it got its name.

It favors young pine stands and stands out with its tender, delicate look. Foragers value it for its clean, pale flesh and mild taste, though you'll come across it less often than its common relatives.

The palest slippery jack

When young, Suillus placidus is impossible to confuse with anything else: its slimy cap has a pale, almost white tone that turns yellowish or slightly brownish over time. Next to its dark-capped relatives, it looks especially delicate.

Like all slippery jacks, it lives in partnership with pine. This bond is called mycorrhiza: the mycelium wraps around the tree's rootlets and trades nutrients with it. That's why you should look for Suillus placidus in pine forests, especially where there are young pines.

Another telltale sign: tiny reddish or pinkish dots that appear on the stem and cap skin with age.

How to recognize Suillus placidus

You recognize it by a combination of features, not by any single one. Look the mushroom over from top to bottom.

• Cap. Slimy, white or ivory in young mushrooms, turning yellow or brownish with age. Small spots sometimes give it a mottled look.
• Stem. Pale, without a ring, thinner than in the slippery jack. With age, tiny reddish dots show up on it.
• Pores. The tubular layer underneath: fine-pored, pale, turning yellowish to olive with age.
• Flesh. Soft, white or pale yellow, sometimes turning slightly pinkish when cut.

The key clue is the unusually pale, almost white cap of the young mushroom, plus the classic slimy skin and pores underneath.

How it differs from other slippery jacks

Suillus placidus is easy to tell apart from its relatives by its color.

• Compared with the slippery jack, it differs in its pale cap and the lack of a ring on the stem.
• Compared with the weeping bolete, it differs in its paler tone and tiny reddish dots instead of milky droplets.

In essence, it's a more delicate, paler slippery jack that prefers young pines. In the kitchen it's every bit as good as its relatives.

Where and when to look for it

The best spots are:

• young pine stands and pine plantations;
• sunny edges of conifer forest and sandy hills;
• patches of mixed forest where pine grows alongside birch.

The season runs from June to October, in flushes after warm rains. It's best to go out a day or two after rain, because slippery jacks grow fast. You can easily watch for these windows with our mushroom radar: it shows when moisture and warmth line up well for mushrooms to appear.

Caution never hurts

Suillus placidus is safe, but caution never hurts. The main rule stays the same: pick only mushrooms with pores, not gills, underneath. The slimy skin is usually peeled off the cap. And, as always: if you're not sure, don't pick it.

Sources

• “Key to the Fungi of Ukraine” (Kyiv, Naukova Dumka publishing house).
• Suillus placidus in GBIF, the global biodiversity database.
• Suillus placidus in MycoBank, the international fungal nomenclature database.
• Suillus placidus on Wikipedia.