Suillus Lakei

''Suillus lakei'', commonly known as the matte Jack, Lake's bolete, or the western painted Suillus, is a species of fungus in the family Suillaceae. It is characterized by the distinctive reddish-brown tufted fibers or small scales on the cap, and the presence of a woolly veil on the stem. The caps can reach diameters of up to , while the stems are between long and usually thick. On the underside of the cap is a layer of spongy yellow to yellow-brown angular pores; these pores are covered with a whitish partial veil when young. A mycorrhizal fungus, ''S. lakei'' grows in association with Douglas fir, and is found where this tree occurs. It is native to northwestern North America, but has been introduced to Europe, South America, and New Zealand. The mushroom is edible, but opinions vary considerably as to its quality.

Taxonomy and naming

American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill originally named the species ''Boletinus lakei'' after mycologist E.R. Lake of Oregon Agricultural college (now Oregon State University). Lake collected the type specimen from Corvallis, Oregon, in late November, 1907. Rolf Singer later transferred the species to the genera ''Ixocomus'' and ''Boletinus'' in 1940 and 1945, respectively. In their 1964 monograph on North American ''Suillus'' species, Alexander H. Smith and Harry Delbert Thiers transferred the species to ''Suillus''. Simultaneously, they described the ''S. lakei'' variety ''pseudopictus'' that they said had been misidentified by collectors as ''Suillus pictus'' (now called ''Suillus spraguei'') because of its reddish and scaly cap. Singer considered ''Suillus amabilis'' to be the same species as ''S. lakei'', but Smith and Thiers later examined the type material of both, and concluded that they were distinct species. Engel and colleagues described a variety in 1996, ''S. lakei'' var. ''landkammeri'', based on ''Boletinus tridentinus'' subsp. ''landkammeri'' described by Czech mycologists Albert Pilát and Mirko Svrček in 1949. The nomenclatural databases Index Fungorum and MycoBank consider this synonymous with ''S. lakei''. The mushroom is commonly known as the "western painted Suillus", the "matte Jack", or "Lake's slippery cap".

Description

The cap of ''S. lakei'' is up to in diameter and initially convex, but flattens out somewhat in maturity. The cap is fleshy, dry, yellowish to reddish-brown but fades with age. It is covered with pressed-down hairs or minute tufted scales in the center, with the yellowish flesh visible between the scales. Heavy rain can wash the fibrils off the cap surface, leaving a sticky, glutinous layer behind. Older specimens may be nearly smooth in age. Remnants of the partial veil sometimes hang from the edge of the cap. The cap margin is initially curved or rolled inwards, but unrolls as it grows and in maturity may be curled upward.

The tubes that comprise the pore surface on the underside of the cap are deep; the angular pores are up to 2.5 mm wide and radially arranged. The pores range in color from yellow to brownish-yellow to ochre, and stain brownish or reddish-brown when bruised. They are covered by a partial veil in young specimens. The flesh is thick, yellow, and either unchanged in color when bruised or broken, or turns pinkish-red. The stem is long and usually thick, yellow, sometimes with reddish streaks (particularly below the ring zone), and solid and yellow within. The species usually lacks the glandular dots on the stem that are characteristic of some ''Suillus'' species. The stem is either equal in width throughout its length, or tapered downwards. The tissue of the stem base may weakly stain bluish-green when cut, although this reaction is not usually apparent in mature specimens. The ring is delicate and floccose