Imperator torosus

Imperator torosus

Imperator torosus is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is native to southern Europe east to the Caucasus and Israel. Eating raw mushrooms of this species leads to vomiting and diarrhea. The pale yellow flesh changes to different colours when broken or bruised.

About Imperator torosus in brief

Summary Imperator torosusImperator torosus, commonly known as the brawny bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. It is native to southern Europe east to the Caucasus and Israel. Although generally rare in Europe, it appears to be relatively common in Hungary. Eating raw mushrooms of this species leads to vomiting and diarrhea. Gastrointestinal symptoms have also occurred after eating cooked specimens, though some people have eaten it without ill effects. The pale yellow flesh changes to different colours when broken or bruised depending on age. The stocky fruit bodies have an ochre cap up to 20 cm across, yellow pores on the cap underside, and a wine-red to brown or blackish stipe up to 6–15 cm long by 3–6 cm wide. In 1996, Czech mycologist Jiří Hlaváček subdivided the section Luridi, defining the section Torosi for Brawny Torosus.

In 2013, genetic analysis showed that B.torosus and many red-pored boletes were part of a clade of clade clade boletes that was well-suited to handling. The bolete was most closely related to Boletus luteocupreus; these two species formed the clade that was named after the bolete clade. In 2015, molecular phylogenetics shows that it is only distantly related to the type species of Boletsus, and it was duly placed in the new genus Imperator in 2015. In the United Kingdom, it is known commonly as the \”brawny Bolete\”. The German name Ochsen-Röhrling means ‘oxen bolete’ and the French bolet vigoureux is ‘strong bolete.’ The species was first described in 1835 by Swedish mycologists Elias Magnus Fries and Christopher Theodor Hök based on Louis Secretan’s B. pachypus.