Two-Colored Bolete

Baorangia bicolor

Edible

Also called bicolor bolete, boletus bicolor.

The two-colored bolete is a summer bolete of eastern oak woods with a rosy red cap and bright yellow pores. It has several red-and-yellow lookalikes, including one that bruises blue instantly and causes gastrointestinal illness.

Baorangia bicolor

Photo coming

The tell

A rose-red cap and stem with bright yellow pores that bruise blue slowly.

Field marks

What to look at

Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.

Cap
Convex, flattening with age, 2 to 6 inches across. Dull rose red to brick red, fading to pinkish or brownish with age. Dry and smooth to slightly velvety.
Underside
Pores instead of gills, shallow and bright yellow, bruising blue slowly when pressed.
Stem
Rose red to red on most of its length and yellow at the very top. Smooth or only finely netted near the top. No ring.
Flesh
Pale yellow, staining blue slowly and weakly or not at all.
Spore print
Olive-brown.
Size
Cap 2 to 6 inches (5 to 15 cm); stem 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) tall.

Where and when

Where and when it grows

Habitat
On the ground in hardwood and mixed forests, most often with oaks, and in wooded parks and lawns near oaks.
Grows on
Soil, near the roots of oaks and other hardwoods.
Season
Summer through early fall.
Range
Eastern North America, east of the Great Plains.

Lookalikes

What the two-colored bolete gets confused with

Each card says how to tell the two apart.

  1. Boletus sensibilis

    This lookalike has a similar brick-red cap and yellow pores, but its pores and flesh bruise blue instantly and intensely when touched or cut. It causes gastrointestinal illness.

  2. Red-pored boletes

    Several boletes have red or orange pores instead of yellow, often bruising blue. Some cause severe gastrointestinal illness.

Edibility

What the field guides say

Edible

Field guides list the two-colored bolete as edible. Several similar red-and-yellow boletes exist. Guides separate it from Boletus sensibilis by its slow, weak blue bruising; Boletus sensibilis bruises blue at once and has caused gastrointestinal poisoning.

This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.

FAQ

Questions about the two-colored bolete

Is the two-colored bolete edible?

Field guides list it as edible. It closely resembles Boletus sensibilis, which bruises blue instantly and causes gastrointestinal illness.

Do two-colored boletes bruise blue?

Yes, but slowly. The yellow pores turn blue gradually when pressed, and the flesh stains blue weakly or not at all. Boletes that bruise intensely blue in a second or two belong to different species.

Where do two-colored boletes grow?

On the ground under oaks and other hardwoods in eastern North America, in forests and in wooded parks and lawns, mostly in summer.

Sources

Where these facts come from

  1. Boletus bicolor

    MushroomExpert.com

  2. Two-Colored Bolete

    Missouri Department of Conservation

  3. Baorangia bicolor

    Index Fungorum

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