Cap color

Brown

A dark brown, chocolate or almost blackish-brown cap is a sign of a massive, "solid" mushroom. In mycology, such a rich dark color (produced by a high concentration of melanins) is most often the calling card of large, fleshy boletes.

24 species in the database.

The dark brown elite

M.Ya. Zerova and David Arora give examples of the best-known mushrooms with a dark brown cap:

1. Bronze bolete (Boletus aereus): One of the most beautiful and rarest kinds of porcini (it grows mainly in oak and beech forests and loves warmth). Its cap is a very dark, chestnut-black, bronze-brown color that contrasts strongly with the pale sponge. To the touch it often feels slightly velvety or suede-like.

2. Lurid bolete (Suillellus luridus): A massive bolete whose cap is a dull, dark brown or olive-brown color. Underneath it has red pores, and it turns blue instantly when cut.

3. Leccinum melaneum: Has a very dark, dark brown or almost blackish-brown cap.

4. Slippery jack (Suillus luteus): Young specimens have a deep chocolate-brown cap covered with a very thick layer of slime.

Identification tips

Roger Phillips notes that there are very few gilled species among dark brown mushrooms. For the most part, nature "reserves" this color for the bolete family.

However, you do come across dark brown gilled mushrooms, for example some milk caps (like the curry milk cap) or dark webcaps. So the rule is always the same: first look at the type of hymenophore (tubes or gills), and only then celebrate your find.

Questions and answers

Why are porcini in spruce forests darker than in birch forests?

The color of a porcini cap depends directly on its partner tree (mycorrhiza). Pine and spruce porcini form much darker, dark brown or chestnut caps that blend in better with the dark needles. Birch porcini are usually much lighter, the shade of coffee with milk.

Are there dark brown amanitas?

Yes. The panther cap (Amanita pantherina) and the grey spotted amanita (Amanita spissa) have brown, grey-brown or dirty brown caps. Since the panther cap is deadly dangerous, always check the stem of any brown gilled mushroom carefully for a ring and a volva.

Sources

1.Зерова М.Я. та ін. Визначник грибів України. 1979
2.Roger Phillips. Mushrooms (Roger Phillips)
3.David Arora. Mushrooms Demystified
4.Index Fungorum