Suillus salmonicolor, commonly known as the Slippery Jill, is a fungus in the family Suillaceae of the order Boletales. First described as a member of the genus Boletus in 1874, the species acquired several synonyms, including Suillus pinorigidus and Suillus subluteus, before it was assigned its current binomial name in 1983. It has not been determined with certainty whether S. salmonicolor is distinct from the species S. cothurnatus, described by Rolf Singer in 1945. The mushroom's dingy yellow to brownish cap is rounded to flattened in shape, slimy when wet, and grows up to 8 cm (3 in) wide. The small pores on the underside of the cap are yellow before becoming olive-brown. The stem is up to 10 cm (4 in) long and 1.6 cm (3⁄4 in) thick and is covered with reddish-brown glandular dots. Young specimens are covered with a grayish, slimy partial veil that later ruptures and leaves a sheathlike ring on the stem. Other similar Suillus species include S. acidus, S. subalutaceus, and S. intermedius. S. salmonicolor is a mycorrhizal fungus—meaning it forms a symbiotic association with the roots of plants such that both organisms benefit from the exchange of nutrients. This symbiosis occurs with various species of pine, and the fruit bodies (or mushrooms) of the fungus appear scattered or in groups on the ground near the trees. The fungus is found in North America, Hawaii, Asia, the Caribbean, South Africa, Australia and Central America. It has been introduced to several of those locations via transplanted trees. Although the mushroom is generally considered edible—especially if the slimy cap cuticle and partial veil are first peeled off—opinions about flavor vary.
Taxonomy The species was first described scientifically by American mycologist Charles Christopher Frost in 1874 as Boletus salmonicolor, based on specimens he collected in the New England area of the United States. In a 1983 publication, mycologist Roy Halling declared Boletus subluteus (described by Charles Horton Peck in 1887; Ixocomus subluteus is a later combination based on this name) and Suillus pinorigidus (described by Wally Snell and Esther A. Dick in 1956) to be synonymous. Halling also reexamined Frost's type specimen of B. salmonicolor, and considered the taxon better placed in Suillus because of its glutinous cap, dotted stem, and ring; he formally transferred it to that genus, resulting in the combination Suillus salmonicolor. The specific epithet salmonicolor is a Latin color term meaning "pink with a dash of yellow". The mushroom is commonly known as the "slippery Jill".
In a 1986 publication on Suillus taxonomy and nomenclature, Mary E. Palm and Elwin L. Stewart further discussed the synonymy of S. salmonicolor, S. subluteus, and S. pinorigidus. They noted that fruit bodies of S. subluteus collected in Minnesota did not have the strong salmon colors considered characteristic of S. salmonicolor, as well as collections that had been named S. pinorigidus; this is a morphological difference that could be sufficient to consider S. subluteus a distinct species. They explained that although the microscopic characteristics of the three taxa do not differ significantly, this is not unusual for Suillus and cannot be used as the sole proof of conspecificity. Palm and Stewart concluded that a study of specimens from various areas of their geographical ranges would be needed to fully resolve the taxonomy of these related species. There is some disagreement in the literature about whether Suillus cothurnatus represents a different species from S. salmonicolor. The online mycological taxonomy database MycoBank lists them as synonyms, contrary to Index Fungorum. In their 2000 monograph of North American boletes, Alan Bessette and colleagues list the two taxa separately, noting that the range of S. cothurnatus is difficult to determine because of confusion with S. salmonicolor. In a molecular analyses of Suillus phylogeny, based on the internal transcribed spacer, S. salmonicolor (as S. subluteus) and S. intermedius clustered together very closely, indicating a high degree of genetic similarity. These analyses were based on comparing the sequence differences in a single region of ribosomal DNA; more recent molecular analyses typically combine the analysis of several genes to increase the validity of inferences drawn.
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