#36 Phlebopus marginatus

While some species of Boletes are common and widespread, Boletes are not your average fungus - instead of gills on the fertile under-surface, Boletes have pores. Tightly packed vertical 'tubes' are affixed to the flesh of the fungus cap with the 'tube' openings all that is visible. The openings are called pores. The underside of a Bolete fungus is covered in minute pores from which the reproductive spores emerge.

Phlebopus marginatus is likely to be Australia's largest terrestrial fungus, with caps reaching to 1 metre across. A specimen from western Victoria was recorded weighing 29 kg.

Phlebopus marginatus at
Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, Heatherbrae, NSW.

Like many Boletes, the soft flesh of Phlebopus marginatus is a favourite breeding ground for insects, the larva of which cause rapid decomposition of the fungus. The mid to dark brown cap is smooth, and viscid (slippery) when wet. Edges of the cap may be irregularly shaped partially turned up. Juvenile caps are convex.

Flesh is thick and white; the pore surface is a dull yellow, aging to brown. The stem is very thick, pale to mid brown (often with a bulbous base) with a deep indentation surrounding the top where it joins the pore surface.

This large Bolete can be found at any time of year following soaking rain. It is commonly found in eucalypt forest, as well as grassy expanses such as sports ovals and parks.

This is one of several Phlebopus marginatus that
I found in damp roadside native vegetation near Cessnock

My husband's hand gives a size comparison

My hand gives a size comparison to this one at
Hunter Region Botanic Garden - July 2010

Notice the deep indentation where the stem joins
the pore surface

Thick white flesh of a fresh specimen not yet riddled with maggots. The pale yellow section is the crowding of elongated hollow tube-like structures which hold the spores.

The pore surface

The cap and stalk have darkened with age, and the cap has been damaged. This specimen was growing in lawn at Hunter Region Botanic Garden in July 2007.

My sightings of Phlebopus marginatus

[This will be updated with new sightings]

Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, Heatherbrae, NSW - in lawn July (2007, 2010)

Werakata NP, Cessnock, NSW - in damp native vegetation, July (2010)

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More information on Phlebopus marginatus:

Fungi enthusiast and chemical engineer features this bolete in his blog, including potential edibility: Tall trees and mushrooms.