# Tylopilus alboater
**Tylopilus alboater** (Schwein.) Murrill, commonly the black velvet bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family [Boletaceae](https://www.edgepedia.org/boletaceae), recognized by its sooty black, finely velvety cap, white pores that age pinkish gray, and white flesh that stains pink and then black when cut.[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=80672) • [2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete) It was described as *Boletus alboater* by Lewis David de Schweinitz in 1822 from North America and placed in *[Tylopilus](https://www.edgepedia.org/tylopilus)* by William Alphonso Murrill in 1909.[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=80672) • [3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/) A 2025 phylogenomic study showed that material long called *T. alboater* is not a single species, and the North American black velvet bolete is now formally *Neoporphyrellus alboater*, type species of the new genus *Neoporphyrellus*.[4](https://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=100204) • [3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current name | *Neoporphyrellus alboater* (Schwein.) Y.C. Li, Jin Li, Halling, Osmundson & Zhu L. Yang, IMA Fungus 16(e159676): 13 (2025); long known as *Tylopilus alboater* (Schwein.) Murrill 1909[4](https://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=100204) |
| Basionym | *Boletus alboater* Schwein., 1822, from North America[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=80672) |
| Common name | Black velvet bolete[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=80672) |
| Cap | 5–15 cm across, convex to broadly convex, dry, densely velvety, sooty black to blackish-brown or dark gray[2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete) |
| Stipe | 4–10 cm long and 1.5–3.5 cm thick, blackish to dark gray, not reticulate[2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete) |
| Flesh reaction | White flesh turns rose-pink within about a minute of slicing, then greys and finally blackens[2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete) |
| Taste | Mild, not bitter, with a nutty flavor; unlike most bitter *Tylopilus* species[5](https://mushroomhunt.app/library/tylopilus-alboater) |
| Distribution | Widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains in North America; mycorrhizal with hardwoods, especially red oak[6](https://foragerchef.com/black-velvet-boletes-tylopilus-alboater/) |
## Description
Measuring 5–15 cm in width, the cap ranges from convex to broadly convex and has a dry, finely velvety or suede-textured tomentum covering it densely. Its color is sooty black to blackish-brown or dark gray, sometimes with a faint whitish bloom when young, and in dry weather it may crack into a fine mosaic that reveals paler flesh beneath.[2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete) • [6](https://foragerchef.com/black-velvet-boletes-tylopilus-alboater/) The pore surface is white to pale gray when young and ages pinkish-gray; the tubes are slightly depressed around the stipe, and the pores are small and round. Pressed or bruised, the pore surface stains pink and then blackens.[2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete)
Measuring 4–10 cm in length and 1.5–3.5 cm in thickness, the stipe matches the cap's color, is either uniform in width or narrows somewhat toward the base, and lacks a reticulum, although faint ridges can appear near the top; the very bottom is frequently lighter in color.[2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete) To confirm the identification, cut into the solid white flesh, which is the most reliable feature: within a minute of slicing it becomes rose-pink, then gradually turns gray and ultimately black.[2](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete) The Latin name *alboater* translates as "white-black" (from *albus*, white, and *ater*, black), capturing this transformation of the flesh from pure white to pitch black when cut.[7](https://fungiatlas.com/tylopilus-alboater/)
Microscopically, the species as treated in the 2025 revision has smooth, subfusiform basidiospores, a trichoderm pileipellis of interwoven thin-walled hyphae, and no clamp connections in any tissue.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/)
## Ecology and distribution
The black velvet bolete is mycorrhizal with hardwood trees, particularly red oak, growing singly, scattered, or in groups. It is widely distributed east of the [Rocky Mountains](https://www.edgepedia.org/rocky-mountains) in North America and becomes rarer toward the western edge of its range in Minnesota and Wisconsin; it has also been documented in eastern Asia. It fruits after summer rains from July to September, around the same time as king boletes and other *Tylopilus* species.[6](https://foragerchef.com/black-velvet-boletes-tylopilus-alboater/)
## Taxonomic history and the 2025 revision
Recognition of *Tylopilus alboater* relied heavily on the external features of the fruit bodies, which produced considerable confusion because of morphological stasis and plasticity. The species was long treated as a single polymorphic species distributed in Asia, North America, and Australia.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/)
Its placement shifted several times before molecular methods. In 1898 Kuntze placed the species in *Suillus*, and in 1931 Gilbert reassigned it to *Porphyrellus* because of its umber basidiomata; Murrill had earlier, in 1909, moved it to *Tylopilus*, citing the dull pink or flesh-colored hymenophore and the rosy to flesh-colored basidiospores: a classification that Singer (1947) and Smith and Thiers (1971) later adopted.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/)
A 2025 study by Jin Li, Roy E. Halling, Todd W. Osmundson, Zhu L. Yang, and Yan-Chun Li examined eleven samples identified as *T. alboater* from Asia, Australia, and North America using a phylogenomic analysis of 45 genomes and a four-gene dataset (nrLSU, tef1-α, rpb1, and rpb2). The analysis showed that specimens morphologically identified as *T. alboater* are polyphyletic, clustering entirely within the subfamily Boletoideae, and represent eight distinct species across five generic lineages. These include a new genus, *Neoporphyrellus*, with the new species *N. sinoalboater* and the new combinations *N. alboater* and *N. atronicotianus*; the remaining five species belong to the known genera *Abtylopilus* (with two new species, *Ab. indonesiensis* and *Ab. australiensis*), *Anthracoporus*, *Indoporus*, and *Tylopilus*. North American material represents three species, including *N. alboater* and *N. atronicotianus* as new combinations and the known *T. rubrobrunneus*.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/) Index Fungorum accordingly lists *Neoporphyrellus alboater* as the current name for the basionym *Boletus alboater*.[4](https://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=100204)
The genus *Neoporphyrellus* is characterized by dark-colored fruit bodies with a finely velvety pileus, a hymenophore that is white to cream and thin at first and becomes pinkish to light gray, white context that changes reddish and then blackish when injured, a trichoderm pileipellis, smooth basidiospores, and a pinkish vinaceous spore print.[3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/)
## Look-alikes and edibility
The most important look-alike is *Boletus aereus*, the bronze bolete or black porcini, which shares a dark brown to near-black cap and oak woodland habitat. *B. aereus* differs in its olive-yellow pore tubes that do not stain pink, olive-yellow pore mouths, brownish-olive reticulation on the stem, and a mild, nutty flavor without bitterness.[5](https://mushroomhunt.app/library/tylopilus-alboater) Within *Tylopilus*, *T. felleus*, the bitter bolete, is the most similar species, but it has a pale tan to buff cap, a prominently reticulate stem, and slightly larger spores; tasting a small piece of cap flesh distinguishes the two, since intense bitterness indicates *Tylopilus* rather than *Boletus aereus*.[5](https://mushroomhunt.app/library/tylopilus-alboater) The false black velvet bolete, *T. atronicotianus* (now *Neoporphyrellus atronicotianus*), is the trickiest look-alike, with a browner cap, no velvety texture, and a reddish-brown spore print.[6](https://foragerchef.com/black-velvet-boletes-tylopilus-alboater/) • [3](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/)
Unlike most members of *Tylopilus*, which foragers call the "heartbreak genus" because most of its fleshy species are intensely bitter, the black velvet bolete has a mild taste nibbled raw, with a nutty flavor when cooked, though bitterness is reported occasionally in some collections.[7](https://fungiatlas.com/tylopilus-alboater/) • [6](https://foragerchef.com/black-velvet-boletes-tylopilus-alboater/) • [5](https://mushroomhunt.app/library/tylopilus-alboater) Foragers value it for firm, heavy fruit bodies that are rarely worm-damaged and keep well in refrigeration; it can also be dried.[6](https://foragerchef.com/black-velvet-boletes-tylopilus-alboater/)
## References
1. [Tylopilus alboater, NCBI Taxonomy Browser, Taxonomy ID 80672](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=80672)
2. [Black Velvet Bolete (Tylopilus alboater) — Identification, Mushroom Identifier](https://mushroomidentification.com/encyclopedia/black-velvet-bolete)
3. [Li J, Halling RE, Osmundson TW, Yang ZL, Li Y-C (2025). Global diversity of the Tylopilus alboater complex (Boletaceae, Boletales): new genus and species, and typification of the name Boletus alboater. IMA Fungus 16:e159676.](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12595509/)
4. [Index Fungorum Name Record 100204: Tylopilus alboater (Schwein.) Murrill](https://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=100204)
5. [Black Velvet Bolete (Tylopilus alboater), Mushroom Hunt](https://mushroomhunt.app/library/tylopilus-alboater)
6. [Bergo A (2023). Black Velvet Boletes (Tylopilus alboater), Forager | Chef](https://foragerchef.com/black-velvet-boletes-tylopilus-alboater/)
7. [Black Velvet Bolete (Tylopilus alboater), Fungi Atlas](https://fungiatlas.com/tylopilus-alboater/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Microorganisms and fungi › Fungi and mycology › Basidiomycete taxa › Agaricomycetes › Boletales › Other Boletaceae genera › Tylopilus*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license