A NEW SPECIES OF BOLETUS SECT BOLETUS FROM JAPAN

Boletus hiratsukae, sp. nov. is described and illustrated from Japan. It belongs to section Boletus and is characterized by the fuliginous t o dark brown color of both the pileus and stipe, a dry, pruinose-subve lutinous pileus without any rugosity throughout its development, and b y a palisade trichodermium structure of the pileipellis in which the e lement hyphae are often submoniliform with shortened, more or less inf lated, terminal and subterminal cells. Data on the habitat suggest tha t it may form mycorrhizal associations with members of Pinaceae, espec ially Abies and Pinus.