Chemists have long been interested in boletes, for as noted above the flesh of some species when exposed to the atmosphere turns vivid colours, a feature often incorporated into the Latin name, e.g. _Boletus purpureus_ Persoon, from the purple colours produced whenever the fruit-body is handled. The reaction appears to be an oxidation where in the presence of an enzyme and oxygen a pigmented substance or substances are produced. What the significance of these colour-changes is in nature is as yet unknown; however, what is interesting is that many of the chemicals involved are unique and have only recently been analysed completely; they are related to the quinones. There is little doubt that it is this rapid and intense blueing of the flesh of many boletes that has lead to a belief that they are poisonous. It is uncertain whether there are any truly toxic species of _Boletus_ but several have unpleasant smells and tastes which make them very unattractive. _Boletus edulis_ is the important ingredient, however, which gives the distinctive taste to so-called dried mushroom soup. Thousands of fruit-bodies are collected annually in the forests of Europe to be later dried and processed for incorporation into soup. Boletes appear to form an important part of the diet of several rodents and deer and in Scandinavia in the diet of reindeer. Probably one of the most obscure of our British boletes is _Strobilomyces floccopus_ (Fries) Karsten, the ‘Old Man of the Woods’. It has a black, white and grey woolly, scaly cap and stem, and the flesh distinctly reddens when exposed to the air. The spores are almost spherical, purple-black in colour and covered in a coarse network when seen under the microscope. All these characters readily separate _Strobilomyces_ from all other European boletes; however, in Australasia, members of this and related genera form a very important part of the flora. ~Chroogomphus rutilus~ (Fries) O. K. Miller Pine spike-cap _Cap_: width 30-150 mm. _Stem_: width 10-18 mm; length 60-120 mm. _Description_: Cap: convex with a pronounced often sharp umbo, wine-coloured, flushed with bronze-colour at centre and yellow or ochre at margin, viscid but soon drying and then becoming paler and quite shiny. Stem: yellowish orange, apricot-coloured or peach-coloured, streaked with dull wine-colour, spindle-shaped or narrowed gradually to the apex from a more or less pointed base. Gills: arcuate-decurrent, distant, at first greyish sepia then dingy purplish with paler margin, but finally entirely dark purplish brown. Flesh: lacking distinctive smell and reddish yellow or pale tan in the cap, rich apricot- or peach-colour towards the stem-base. Spore-print: purplish black. Spores: very long, spindle-shaped, smooth, olivaceous purple and greater than 20 µm in length (20-23 × 6-7 µm). Marginal cystidia: cylindrical to lance-shaped and up to 100 × 15 µm. Facial cystidia: similar to marginal cystidia.