Suede bolete or Inkstain bolete

The cap of the inkstain bolete is small, usually 3 to 10 centimeters across. When young it is convex and hemispherical, opening with age to cushion-shaped and almost flat. The cap surface is dry and velvety-felty to the touch, and in mature mushrooms it may develop fine cracks. The color is dark and rich — from chestnut brown and chocolate to olive-brown, sometimes with yellowish tones. Its most striking trait is the instant reaction to touch: at the slightest pressure, the cap surface immediately floods with dark blue, almost black.

Cap 4-12 cm across, hemispherical in young mushrooms, later becoming convex to flat. Color olive-green, yellow-green, ocher-green, brighter when young, paling with age. The surface is velvety and dryish, slightly sticky in damp weather; in old mushrooms it often cracks, with white cracks between the polygons of skin.

Under the cap lies a tubular hymenophore with small pores that are bright yellow or golden yellow when young, turning olive-yellow as they mature. But the hymenophore's main feature is its lightning-fast and extremely vivid reaction: just touch the pores, and in an instant they flood with a deep ink-blue, almost black color. In the intensity and speed of this bluing, the inkstain bolete outdoes practically every other bolete in our forests.

The hymenophore is made of tubes attached to the stem. Color bright yellow when young, turning yellow-olive with age. The pores are small and angular, and turn blue when pressed — usually, though not always. Spore print olive-brown.

The stem of the inkstain bolete is thinner and slimmer than the cap, 4 to 9 centimeters tall, cylindrical or slightly tapering toward the base. It is yellowish at the top and takes on reddish-brown or rusty tones toward the base. There is no net pattern on the stem — its surface is smooth or faintly fibrous. Like the rest of the mushroom, the stem turns blue instantly and intensely when touched or pressed. There is no ring and no volva at all.

Stem 5-10 cm tall, 1-2 cm thick, cylindrical, often slightly narrowing toward the base. Color yellow-ocher with fine lengthwise reddish-brown scales forming a net — a characteristic feature of the species among the boletes. No ring.

The flesh of the inkstain bolete is yellowish, fairly soft and thin, especially in the stem. Its defining feature is the fastest and most vivid bluing of any bolete: as soon as the mushroom is cut, the flesh literally within seconds floods with a thick dark blue, almost inky color across the whole cut surface. This reaction is spectacular but perfectly safe. The flesh tastes mild and pleasant, with no bitterness, but because of its high arsenic content, it's best not eaten.

The flesh is meaty, pale yellow, rusty in the lower part of the stem. When cut, it changes little: it may turn faintly blue or flush slightly reddish. The smell is faintly mushroomy, with a note of ripe apple. The taste is mild and pleasant.

The smell of the inkstain bolete is faint, mild and typically mushroomy, with no sharp or unpleasant notes. The aroma is not a defining feature of the species, so when identifying it, rely first and foremost on the dark velvety cap and the extraordinarily fast and intense bluing of every part of the mushroom.

Faint, pleasant and mushroomy, with a fruity (apple) note.