page_title: Leccinum holopus
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Leccinum holopus / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Fruit bodies of the bolete fungus Leccinum holopus var. americanum A.H. Sm. &amp; Thiers. Specimen bisected to show reddish staining reaction typical of this variety. Photographed in Splashdam Pond, Pennsylvania, USA. "Notes: KOH on cap quickly pink then to gray in 2-3 seconds."
context_page_description: Leccinum holopus, commonly known as the white birch bolete, white bog bolete, or ghost bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae found in northern Asia, Europe, and northeastern North America. It associates with birch trees and is typically found in boggy or swampy areas, often growing among sphagnum moss.
  Fruitbodies of L. holopus have convex caps measuring up to 10 cm in diameter. Often pure white—especially in young fruitbodies—the caps sometimes become flushed with buff or brownish tints. The whitish surface of the stipe is covered with small, stiff, projecting scales that become tan or darker in age. Some varieties of Leccinum holopus have been described that vary in cap color or staining reaction, but DNA evidence suggests that most are the same taxon. Although the fruitbodies are edible, opinions vary as to their culinary desirability.
context_section_description: Fruitbodies of Leccinum holopus have convex to flattened caps measuring 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) in diameter, with a narrow band of sterile tissue surrounding the margin. The caps are initially whitish, but can develop gray, buff, tan, or pinkish tints during maturity; the color may also darken and become greenish with age. The cap surface is initially covered with very fine hairs, but later becomes more or less smooth, often with a sticky texture in age or in moist conditions. The flesh is white and lacks any distinct odor or taste; it can have either little or no bruising color reaction with injury, or may become light pink in variety americanum. On the cap underside is a porous surface comprising pores numbering 2 to 3 per millimeter, each of which is the end of a tube that extends to 2.5 cm (1.0 in) deep. The color of the pore surface ranges from whitish to grayish to dingy brown, and has little color reaction to injury, although it may discolor yellowish or brownish. There is a depression where the pores meet the stipe. The stipe measures 8–14 cm (3.1–5.5 in) long by 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) wide. Its whitish surface is covered with scabers that darken in age to tan or darker. The stipe base often stains bluish.
  Leccinum holopus produces a brown spore print. Spores are somewhat fusoid (spindle-shaped) and measure 14–20 by 5–6.5 µm. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are four-spored and measure 28.5–36.5 by 11.5–12.5 µm. Cystidia on the pores are flask-shaped (lageniform) to fusiform, and 39.0–45.5 by 7.5–9.0 µm, while those of the stipe (caulocystidia) are fusiform, club-shaped, or cylindrical, measuring 39.0–54.5 x 9.1–13.5 µm. There are no clamp connections present in the hyphae of L. holopus. The cap cuticle is arranged in the form of a cutis—with hyphae that run parallel to the cap surface.
  Several chemical tests can be used to help verify an identification of L. holopus. A drop of ammonium hydroxide solution turns the cap cuticle a pinkish color, but has no reaction with the flesh. A drop of dilute potassium hydroxide (KOH) has no reaction on the cap surface, and either no reaction or a brownish reaction with the flesh. Application of iron (II) sulphate solution does not have a reaction on the cap surface, and either no reaction to slightly olive coloration on the flesh.
caption: The flesh of variety americanum stains reddish when cut.
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