Red cracking boleteXerocomellus chrysenteron

Yes, without restrictions. Young mushrooms are the best for cooking. Old specimens with soft caps and maggoty tubes — skip them right away; the flesh turns slimy and tasteless.

It's a natural trait of the species — the cap skin is sensitive to drying out, and in a dry summer it cracks into polygonal patches. A pinkish-red layer shows in the cracks — a key feature for identification. It has nothing to do with spoilage: young mushrooms with an uncracked cap are normal too, just younger.

None serious. All boletes in our flora are edible. You could confuse it with the bitter bolete (Tylopilus felleus) — not poisonous, but very bitter. The difference: the bitter bolete has pink pores (not yellow) and a pronounced dark net on the stem. Or with a young devil's bolete — that one is rare, with red pores and a swollen stem.

In all types of forest — broadleaf, mixed, and parks. It's especially abundant on mossy forest edges under oak, beech and hornbeam. In city parks it grows on lawns under old lindens and oaks, even in the centers of big cities. It isn't fussy about conditions.

All over the country: the Carpathians, Prykarpattia, Polissia, the forest-steppe, and parks and shelterbelts in the steppe. One of the most cosmopolitan mushrooms.

June — November, peaking in August–September. It survives the first frosts. One of the longest seasons among the boletes.

Red cracking bolete (X. chrysenteron) — a chestnut-brown cap with cracks and a red layer in the cracks, and a stem with a pinkish-red band. Suede bolete (X. subtomentosus) — an olive-green velvety cap WITHOUT cracks, and a yellow-ocher stem with a fine reddish net. Both are edible, so a mix-up is not critical.

On its own — not interesting (soft, watery flesh). In a mix with porcini, suede boletes and slippery jacks — it's fine. Fry it, or pickle it after boiling for 10 min. Drying works less well — the flesh is thin. To freeze, be sure to boil it first.