As a mycological neophyte, I am on a rapid learning curve. At this point however, I
am rather dependent on others to help me with identification. As I do not (as yet?)
have any interest in eating the fungi I find, my urge to identify derives from my
desire to understand these amazing life forms and from my desire to be accurate in
labeling my pictures, particular those posed on the web. It seems that the
difficulties with fungus identification stems from a number of factors: 1) many
mushrooms look superficially alike, 2) many mushrooms have different forms and
colors depending on their environment and age. 3) fungi are largely beyond the
normal purview of American life. People often fail to notice fungi that are in
plain view, particularly if they deviate from the canonical mushroom or shelf fungus
forms.
Those caveats having been stated, I have had the courage to dedicate this page to
Boletus satanas - even though I am not entire certain that my identifications
are correct. As soon as I have a positive ID, I will remove this caveat (and repost
it on some other fungal page).
The boletes have a spongy surface under the cap or pileus.