Porcini or Pale bolete

Cap 7–30 cm across, spherical or hemispherical in young mushrooms, becoming cushion-shaped and spread out over time. The color varies from light brown to dark chestnut or reddish brown depending on light and forest type: caps are darker in spruce woods and lighter in pine forests.

The cap surface is dry, smooth or slightly wrinkled, and can be a little sticky in wet weather. The margin is even or slightly wavy, inrolled in young mushrooms. The skin doesn't peel.

Cap 6–15 cm, hemispherical in young mushrooms, then cushion-shaped. Pale gray, creamy white, silvery grayish, sometimes with a faint pink or ochre tint. Surface matte, slightly sticky in wet weather. Young mushrooms often have a distinctive silvery sheen.

The hymenophore is tubular and separates easily from the cap flesh. In young mushrooms the tubes are white, later turning yellow; in mature ones they're yellow-green or olive. The pores are small, round, uniform in color and don't change color when pressed.

Hymenophor tubular, slightly notched near the stem. Butter-yellow, olive-yellow in mature specimens. Pores small, round. May bruise faintly blue when pressed.

Stem massive, 5–20 cm tall and 3–10 cm thick, bulbous or club-shaped in young mushrooms, later cylindrical. Color from whitish to light brown. The surface is covered with a characteristic white or cream net pattern, most distinct in the upper part of the stem.

There's no ring and no volva. The base of the stem is often thickened.

Stem 5–12 cm tall, 2–4 cm thick, club-shaped in young mushrooms, cylindrical in mature ones. Yellow at the top; the base may have a pink or reddish brown tint. At the top — a fine yellow net (a characteristic feature of the genus).

The flesh is dense, juicy and white, and doesn't change color when cut or damaged — this feature sets porcini apart from a number of poisonous lookalikes. In old fruiting bodies the flesh becomes spongy and yellowish.

The taste is mild, nutty and slightly sweet. The stem flesh is denser and more fibrous than the cap flesh.

Flesh butter-yellow, very firm in young specimens; may slowly turn blue when cut, especially in the tubes. The stem base sometimes has a pink tint. Texture fibrous, with a pleasant resistance under the knife.

The smell is pleasant, unobtrusive, mushroomy with light nutty notes. With cooking and drying the aroma intensifies and takes on a deep, rich woody, foresty character. It's for dried porcini that the mushroom is so valued in cooking — no other dried mushroom gives such a pronounced taste and smell.

Smell pleasant, mushroomy and nutty, with a faint honey note. Taste mild, not bitter, with a distinct “buttery” note — a hallmark of the genus Butyriboletus.