Cep (oak form)

Description

This is the oak form of the cep (Boletus edulis f. reticulatus). In 1966 the mycologist B. P. Vassilkov described eighteen forms of the cep, separated by their mycorrhizal partner, season and climate; on that view the cep is a species in the broad sense (Boletus edulis sensu lato), and four of these forms are treated by other authors as species in their own right. It is now recognised as a species of its own, Boletus reticulatus (alternately known as Boletus aestivalis (Paulet) Fr.) and commonly referred to as the summer cep. It occurs in deciduous forests of Europe, where it forms a symbiotic mycorrhizal relationship with species of oak (Quercus). The fungus produces fruiting bodies in the summer months, which are edible and popularly collected. It was formally described by Jacob Christian Schäffer in 1774.