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Caloboletus marshii
Caloboletus marshii, commonly known as Ben's bitter bolete,[2][3] is a species of mushroom in the family Boletaceae. It is not poisonous, but it is too bitter to eat.[2][3] It turns blue when cut or bruised, and it grows under live oak.[3] TaxonomyCaloboletus marshii was first unofficially described by David Arora as Boletus "marshii" in his book Mushrooms Demystified, which was first published in 1979 and later revised in 1986.[2][1][4] In 2014, Jonathan L. Frank formally described the species as Caloboletus marshii.[1] DescriptionThe cap of Caloboletus marshii is about 2-6 inches (6-15 cm) across, and the stipe is about 1-4 inches (3-10 cm) long and 0.7-4 inches (3-10 cm) wide.[3] The pore surface and the flesh are yellow, and quickly turn blue when bruised or cut.[3][2] Similar speciesCaloboletus marshii can be confused with the brown butter bolete, Butryiboletus persolidus.[3] It can also be confused with the white king bolete, Boletus barrowsii, which doesn't bruise blue as much as Caloboletus marshii.[3][5] Habitat and ecologyCaloboletus marshii is a mycorrhizal fungus that grows under live oaks in California,[2][4] Oregon, and Washington.[4] It fruits in late summer and fall, often before the rains come. It is rarely found fruiting in November.[3] Edibility and discoveryCaloboletus marshii is inedible due to its extremely bitter taste. However, this didn't stop a man named Ben Marsh from repeatedly trying to make it edible. This brought the mushroom to David Arora's attention, and he named it after Ben Marsh.[2][3][4] See alsoReferences
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