Estimated value
$10–40/lb fresh
Dried $90–180/lb
A-grade unwormed buttons $15–40/lb. Wormy kings collapse to $3/lb or get dried.
culinary · choice
King Bolete / Porcini
Boletus edulis complex
Also called Cep, Steinpilz, Penny bun
Field marks
- Spore print
- Olive brown
- Smell
- Rich, nutty, bread-like
- Trees / hosts
- Spruce, Fir, Pine, Birch, Oak
- Elevation
- Foothills to subalpine; later at height.
Description
Fat brown bun cap over a swollen white stem with a fine net (reticulum) near the top. Underside is a sponge of pores, never gills. Pores start white, age yellow-olive. Flesh does not stain blue in true B. edulis.
Where it grows
Conifer and mixed woods, often near spruce.
How to find it
Mycorrhizal with spruce, fir, pine, and birch. Hunt after cool rains in late summer–fall. Look on forest edges, old roads, and mossy benches. Check every button for maggots by slicing the stem.
How to pick
Cut high enough to leave the base. Slice immediately — if the sponge is green and the stem is tunneled, dry it or leave it. Never soak.
Medicinal notes
Culinary. High protein for a fungus. Not a medicinal staple.
Psychoactive / controlled
None.
Law
Legal food. Commercial permits required on most public forests.
Lookalikes
Bitter bolete (Tylopilus felleus)
Pink pores, strong bitter taste. Not toxic but ruins a pot. Nibble-and-spit test only after you know the genus.
Blue-staining boletes
Some are edible, some are not. Instant deep-blue stain + red pores = do not eat.
Field ID ticket
Tick every required mark in the woods. 0/4 required. This still is not laboratory certainty.
Do not eat or sell this specimen. Missing required marks.