Brown birch bolete or Leccinum percandidum
How they differ, how to recognize them and which is more dangerous — a mushroom comparison
The short answer
Brown birch bolete and Leccinum percandidum are similar species that can be mixed up while foraging. The main visible difference: use: Brown birch bolete — culinary, cook fresh, drying, freezing, Leccinum percandidum — cook fresh, pickling, drying, salting. The mushrooms also differ in the following features: size, cap color, cap surface.
Brown birch bolete
Leccinum scabrum
Leccinum percandidum
Leccinum percandidum
📊 Comparing characteristics
| Characteristic | Brown birch bolete | Leccinum percandidum |
|---|---|---|
| Edibility class | Brown birch bolete Edible | Leccinum percandidum Edible |
| Season | Brown birch bolete SummerAutumn | Leccinum percandidum SummerAutumn |
| Use | Brown birch bolete CulinaryCook freshDryingFreezing | Leccinum percandidum Cook freshPicklingDryingSalting |
| Size | Brown birch bolete Medium (5–15 cm) | Leccinum percandidum Giant (>25 cm) |
| Cap color | Brown birch bolete BrownDark brownGrey | Leccinum percandidum WhiteCreamGrey |
| Cap shape | Brown birch bolete Convex | Leccinum percandidum Convex |
| Cap surface | Brown birch bolete DryVelvety | Leccinum percandidum Dry |
| Taste | Brown birch bolete Mild | Leccinum percandidum Mild |
| Smell | Brown birch bolete Pleasant, mushroomy | Leccinum percandidum Pleasant |
| Flesh color change | Brown birch bolete No change | Leccinum percandidum Darkens |
| Hymenophore | Brown birch bolete Pored | Leccinum percandidum Pored |
| Stem | Brown birch bolete CentralSolid | Leccinum percandidum Central |
| Ring (veil) | Brown birch bolete No ring | Leccinum percandidum No ring |
| Volva | Brown birch bolete No volva | Leccinum percandidum No volva |
| Substrate | Brown birch bolete Soil | Leccinum percandidum Soil |
| Nutrition type | Brown birch bolete Mycorrhizal | Leccinum percandidum Mycorrhizal |
| Partner trees | Brown birch bolete Birch | Leccinum percandidum BirchAspen |
📅 Seasonality
Brown birch bolete
Fruiting season
June – October
Leccinum percandidum
Fruiting season
August – October
🔬 Morphology
Cap
Brown birch bolete
Cap 5–15 cm across, at first spherical or hemispherical, later cushion-shaped. The surface is smooth or slightly wrinkled, dry or a little sticky in wet weather. Color ranges from grayish brown to dark brown, more rarely almost black.
Leccinum percandidum
Cap 8–18 cm, hemispherical in young mushrooms, then cushion-shaped, almost flat in old ones. White, cream, grayish; with age it may take on ochre or yellowish tints. The surface is matte, slightly sticky in wet weather and dry and roughish in dry weather. The skin does not peel.
Hymenophore
Brown birch bolete
The hymenophore is tubular. The tubes and pores are white, small in young mushrooms and wider in mature ones. When pressed, the pores turn slightly brownish, but there's never any bluing: unlike in the red-capped scaber stalks, the flesh doesn't blue even at the stem base.
Leccinum percandidum
Hymenophore tubular, free, with a notch near the stem. White when young, then grayish cream, grayish brown in mature mushrooms. Pores small, finely rounded.
Stem
Brown birch bolete
Stem 8–18 cm tall, 1.5–3 cm thick, cylindrical, fairly long and slender compared with the cap. The surface is white or grayish, densely covered with dark, fibrous scales — the hallmark of the genus Leccinum. The stem is firm and fibrous.
Leccinum percandidum
Stem massive, 10–20 cm tall, 3–5 cm thick, club-shaped in young mushrooms, cylindrical in old ones. White or grayish cream, covered with characteristic dense grayish or brownish fibrous scales — gray to blackish even in young mushrooms.
Flesh
Brown birch bolete
The flesh is firm and white; when cut it doesn't change colour or turns slightly pinkish, and after a few hours may become a little greyish or brownish. It darkens to grey-black only when cooked. The taste is mild and neutral. The cap skin doesn't peel.
Leccinum percandidum
Flesh white, very dense and heavy. When cut, it first turns pinkish, then gray and black, with a violet tint in the cap and upper stem. At the stem base the flesh often turns blue or blue-green. The texture is fibrous and meaty.
Smell
Brown birch bolete
The smell is unobtrusive, pleasant and typically mushroomy. The aroma intensifies with cooking. When dried, the brown birch bolete takes on a rich scent that falls short of porcini but is noticeably better than most other pored mushrooms.
Leccinum percandidum
Smell rich and mushroomy, pleasant. Taste mild, not bitter. The dried mushroom has a strong "earthy" aroma.
📍 Habitats
Brown birch bolete
Leccinum percandidum
👀 Similar mushrooms — don't mix them up!
Red-capped scaber stalk
EdibleBitter bolete
InedibleGhost bolete
EdibleBoletus betulicola
EdibleCornflower bolete
EdibleOrange birch bolete
EdibleFoxy bolete
EdibleBlushing bolete
EdibleMottled bolete
EdibleSlate bolete
EdibleLeccinum melaneum
EdibleSaffron bolete
EdibleOrange oak bolete
EdibleLeccinum percandidum
EdibleBrown birch bolete
Edible❓ Frequently asked questions
Can Brown birch bolete and Leccinum percandidum be mixed up?
How to tell Brown birch bolete from Leccinum percandidum?
Is Leccinum percandidum edible?
When do Brown birch bolete and Leccinum percandidum grow?
Sources
- [1]Атлас грибів України, Зеров Д.К. (1979)
- [2]GBIF
- [3]Вікіпедія (українська)
- [4]MycoBank Database
- [5]Index Fungorum
- [6]iNaturalist Ukraine