Slippery Jack - Suillus luteus
- The Foraging Course Company
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
Edible mushroom - novice Season - summer to autumn Common names Slippery Jack, sticky bun, sticky pine bolete
Scientific name meaning: Suillus is derived from the Latin for swine/pig. Luteus is also Latin and means muddy. Some sources state that luteus is derived from lut meaning yellow, however, luteus is a complete Latin adjective for muddy
Habitat  A mycorrhizal fungus that associates with pine. |
Overall structure and growth  A mushroom with a slimy cap that often appears in large numbers. |
Cap  The domed cap is usually between 5 and 10cm wide and can be light-, dark- or orange-brown. It is very slimy when wet and smooth when dry. |
Pores, tubes and spores  The irregular-shaped pores are pale yellow and darken with age. The spore colour is olive brown. |
Stem  The stem is 2 to 3cm wide and 5 to 10cm tall. It is cylindrical and pale yellow. As it ages, small dark dots appear at the top of the stem. The base of the stem is covered with odd dark fibres. It has a white floppy stem ring, which turns a dark purple as it ages. In older specimens it gives the appearance that the bottom of the stem is a different colour to the upper part. |
Flesh, smell and taste  The flesh is lemon yellow and does not change colour when damaged. |
Possible lookalikes  Could be confused with other Suillus species, such as larch bolete (Suillus grevillei), pictured, bovine bolete (Suillus bovinus) and weeping bolete (Suillus granulatus). All are edible, however, the first grows with pine and the latter two have no ring or ring zone. |
Use as a food Must be cooked and can be used exactly as a cultivated mushroom. Some people have reactions to the slimy covering on the cap so it should either be removed by cleaning or the entire cap cover peeled away. Also, the pore surface in older specimens contains a lot of detritus, so should be removed Hazards Has been known to cause stomach upsets in some so tolerance tests are advised. Also, removal of the slimy cap and tubes is believed to reduce the risk of an unfavourable reaction
Use in herbal medicine and medicine The slippery Jack has been shown to inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation under laboratory conditions
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner Other uses None known at time of writing Importance to other species Food source of many invertebrates
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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