About Suillus placidus (Bonord.) Singer
Suillus placidus (Bonord.) Singer has a cap that is hemispherical when young, and becomes convex with age. The cap is ivory white, very slimy, and can reach up to 10 cm in diameter. Its stem is slender, lacks a ring, and is ivory white, with grey granular dots or blotches near the stem apex. The soft flesh is yellowish white and has a mild taste. Spores of this species are ochre. This fungus is found in Asia, Europe, and North America, and grows exclusively in association with five-needled pine species from the subgenus Strobus. It forms ectomycorrhizae, a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship, with these host trees. In Asia, it occurs in the Russian Far East alongside Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica), Siberian dwarf pine (P. pumila), and Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis), and has also been reported from China. In Europe, it is a rarely encountered species, where it forms ectomycorrhizal associations with Swiss pine (Pinus cembra) and the introduced eastern white pine (Pinus strobus). In northeastern North America, the range of Suillus placidus overlaps with the native range of eastern white pine (P. strobus). Fruiting occurs in summer and autumn, and fruiting bodies grow singly or in small groups.
