Suillus luteus

                                                                                                                                        Slippery Jack

 Edibility

This is a very popular mushroom with immigrants who have come from Europe who like to dry them, powder them and use them as a mushroom based stock .Young specimens taste quite nice fried however i find as they mature they are more slimy and take a lot more cooking and if I'm honest i am not a fan. I also find that i do get a little gastric upset after consuming. It is also best to peel the skin off the cap.

Habitat         

They are in abundance where you find pine mushrooms and are found exclusively in association with pine trees.

Description

The scientific name for this mushroom is a bit of a quirky one.

 Suillus comes from Latin  meaning pig/swine. Hence, Suillus means 'of pigs' and it is thought to refer to its greasy cap.

 luteus from latin meaning yellow.

This is another good mushroom for beginners as there are not many mushrooms you can confuse it with, especially if you check off all the descriptors below.

Appearance

The cap is 5cm - 15cm in size, broadly convex in shape opening up as it matures into a flatter cap. The cap has a glutinous to sticky cap that is light brown to a deep chocolate brown in colour ( see pic above).

This is another mushroom that has pores instead of gills, The pores start out creamy yellow (see pic of pores above) and fluffy looking but as the mushroom ages the pores turn a golden yellow in colour. Beneath the cap, a white veil covers the young pores receding as the mushroom gets bigger  this sometimes remains on the stem as an annulus.

The stem is cylindrical in shape, white in colour and from 4cm to 8cm tall and 1cm to 3cm wide and fairly smooth to touch. 

Distribution

NSW-VIC-SA-TAS-QLD-WA

Spore Colour  

Yellow/Brown

Lookalikes

A lot of people mistake Suillus granulatus with Sillus luteus(slippery jack) but the lack of a veil and annulus is one give away but also the stem of the Sillus granulatus which has a grainy texture. Saying this luckily Sillus granulatus is also edible.

Please use this reference as a tool for identification only and never eat any mushroom unless you do your own research and you are 100% sure. Remember if in doubt leave it out!