At a stand of Pinus radiata in Selby where we often find a lot of Grey Ghost (Tricholoma terreum) and Saffron Milk Cap (Lactarius deliciosus) we found these interesting little yellow boletes popping up. In the years that we have been checking this location we have never seen them before and we weren’t initially certain whether they were a native species that had moved into this environment or a dormant foreign mycorrhizal attachment that had been waiting for the right conditions to appear.
We soon realised we were looking at Suillus bovinus – a european bolete related to other Suillus species like the common Slippery Jack.
In Europe, common names for this mushroom include the Bovine Bolete, The Jersey Cow Mushroom and numerous eastern European names such as Kuhpilz and Kuhröhrling.
Initially the small fruit bodies of this mushroom kind of stank and we were underwhelmed with them, but larger fruit bodies produce a similar waxy smell to Birch Boletes and a much stronger flavour.
Despite online sources describing the species as having a fairly bland or poor flavour, we found this mushroom to be superior to other Suillus species and well worth checking out if you find them.
