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:
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.