Strobilomyces is a genus of boletes (mushrooms having a spongy mass of pores under the cap). It can be distinguished by the following characteristics:

• the cap and stipe are covered in soft hairy or woolly scales,
• while most boletes have smooth elongated spores, those of Strobilomyces are roughly spherical and prominently ornamented, and
• as might be expected from its "dry" fibrous appearance, it is resistant to decay (whereas most mushrooms in the Boletaceae are soft and decompose notoriously rapidly).

The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek word Strobilos (στρόβιλος), meaning "pine cone", a reference to the appearance of S. strobilaceus. The ending "-myces" is a standard suffix meaning "mushroom" (Ancient Greek: μύкης). In some classification systems it is assigned to a separate family Strobilomycetaceae , but in others it is merged into the larger family Boletaceae . A DNA analysis by Høiland K. (1987) indicates that Strobilomyces is only distantly related to more familiar boletes such as Suillus - in fact it seems to be more closely related to the Earth Balls (Scleroderma)!

The only well-known European species is the type species S. strobilaceus (also named S. floccopus). It is found in a widespread geographical area but it is uncommon and its sombre coloration and its habitat in dark woods make it elusive. In English it is sometimes called the Old Man of the Woods.

Many more species have come to light from warmer countries. The mycologist E. J. H. Corner described several new species from Malaysia including S. mirandus .

List of species

• Strobilomyces alpinus - (Yunnan province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces ananaeceps
• Strobilomyces annamiticus
• Strobilomyces annulatus - (Malaysia)
• Strobilomyces areolatus
• Strobilomyces atrosquamosus
• Strobilomyces benoisii
• Strobilomyces camphoratus
• Strobilomyces coccineus
• Strobilomyces confusus - (East Asia, North America)
• Strobilomyces coturnix - (Madagascar)
• Strobilomyces dryophilus - (United States)
• Strobilomyces echinatus
• Strobilomyces excavatus
• Strobilomyces fasciculatus
• Strobilomyces foveatus - (Malaysia)
• Strobilomyces fusisporus
• Strobilomyces giganteus - (Sichuan province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces gilbertianus - (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
• Strobilomyces glabellus - (Yunnan province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces glabriceps
• Strobilomyces hydriensis
• Strobilomyces immutabilis - (Madagascar)
• Strobilomyces indica
• Strobilomyces kalimpongensis
• Strobilomyces latirimosus - (Guangxi province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces ligulatus
• Strobilomyces mirandus - (Malaysia)
• Strobilomyces mollis - (Malaysia)
• Strobilomyces montosus
• Strobilomyces nigricans - (East Asia, North America)
• Strobilomyces pallescens
• Strobilomyces paradoxus
• Strobilomyces parvirimosus - (Yunnan province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces pauper - (Brazil)
• Strobilomyces polypyramis - (Malaysia)
• Strobilomyces porphyrius
• Strobilomyces retisporus
• Strobilomyces rufescens
• Strobilomyces sanmingensis
• Strobilomyces seminudus - (Ōtsu, Japan)
• Strobilomyces strobilaceus = S. floccopus - (North America, Europe)
• Strobilomyces subnigricans - (Hubei province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces subnudus - (Jiangsu province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces velutinus - (Yunnan province, Mainland China)
• Strobilomyces velutipes - (Malaysia)

References