Brawny Bolete (Boletus torosus)

Key Details

Taxonomic Groups: Fungus or lichen > fungus > Fungus
Red List Status: Data Deficient (Not Relevant) [DD(nr)]
D5 Status:
Section 41 Status: (not listed)
Taxa Included Synonym: (none)
UKSI Recommended Name: Imperator torosus
UKSI Recommended Authority: (Fr.) Assyov et al.
UKSI Recommended Qualifier: (none specified)
Red List Citation: Ainsworth et al., 2013
Notes on taxonomy/listing: (none)

Criteria

Question 1: Does species need conservation or recovery in England?
Response: Yes
Justification: Redlisted as Data Deficient (2013) - Potentially not recorded in UK, but not enough evidence to confirm that.
Question 2: Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions?
Response: Yes
Justification: As of the last published study this is now an accepted species but UK records have not been confirmed. It may never have occurred in England.
Question 3: At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages?
Response: No
Justification: There is no evidence that an increase in the structural diversity of the habitat will directly benefit this species.

Species Assessment

Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): 1. Taxonomy established
Recovery potential/expectation: Low - Relict or natural rarity
National Monitoring Resource: Opportunistic - insufficient
Species Comments: English (and UK) specimens of this have not been confirmed as I.torosus as defined in 2015, and are potentially a yellow form of B.rhodopurpureus, which is also included in the TSRA list

Key Actions

Key Action 1

Proposed Action: A programme of sequencing all English voucher specimens with this name should be carried out to confirm if any align with I.torosus as typified in 2015

Action targets: 1. Taxonomy established

Action type: Scientific research

Duration: 1 year

Scale of Implementation: Not applicable

High priority sites: N/A

Comments: British specimens named this are may be the same as those named as B. xanthocyaneus and therefore just a yellow colour form of B. rhodopurpureus. Sequencing of English collections should resolve taxonomy and status.

Key Action 2

Proposed Action: If Action 1 is unsuccessful in resolving taxonomy (potentially due to age of voucher specimens), an eDNA survey of the soil at sites where Boletus torosus was previously recorded should be carried out to confirm presence/absence of this species.

Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists

Action type: Status survey/review

Duration: 1 year

Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites

High priority sites: New Forest

Comments:

Key Action 3

Proposed Action: If either actions 1 or 2 confirm this as an English species, then an assessment of the necessary national species records should be made according to IUCN guidelines to provide a recognised redlist status criteria for this species.

Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists

Action type: Status survey/review

Duration: 1 year

Scale of Implementation: National

High priority sites: N/A

Comments:

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Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.