lanmaoa-carminipora-davidson-river - Asheville Insiders Guide

A carmine-pored bolete in the ferns

A small red bolete stood out on a saturated forest slope. Its carmine pores and mostly smooth red stem point toward Lanmaoa carminipora, a species that carried a different genus name until a recent genomic revision.

July 25, 2026

Exercise Trail #344

Pisgah National Forest

Photographs by Will Thomas

A bright fruiting body after heavy rain

The mushroom appeared low on a wet slope among ferns, rhododendron, and rain-darkened leaf litter. Beneath the pinkish-red cap was a fine pore surface rather than gills. The pores ranged from carmine to orange-red, while the long red stem was mostly smooth and marked by fine vertical streaks.

Those characters fit the genus Lanmaoa. The closest photographic comparison is Lanmaoa carminipora, formerly known as Boletus carminiporus. The species name remains tentative because the observation lacks a bruising sequence, section, microscopy, voucher, or DNA sequence.

The pore color and smooth red stem change the identification

Morphological comparison

cf. Lanmaoa carminipora

This comparison rests on the smooth pinkish-red cap, carmine to orange-red pores, and a red stem that is mostly smooth rather than coarsely netted. The older name Boletus carminiporus still appears in many databases and field references.

Features that fit

Smooth pinkish-red convex cap
Fine carmine to orange-red pores
Long red stem with vertical streaking
Solitary growth on hardwood forest soil
Summer fruiting after heavy rain

Evidence still missing

Timed blue-bruising sequence
Host-tree determination
Spore print and microscopy
Dried voucher or expert determination
DNA sequence for species confirmation

From forest slope to pore surface

Wet fern and rhododendron forest slope with a small red bolete near the lower edge — 01 The wide frame matters: this was a forest-floor mushroom in a saturated rhododendron-and-fern understory.

Red mushroom cap emerging from wet leaf litter among ferns — 02 The discovery view preserves the mushroom’s scale within the forest floor, even without a ruler.

Close overhead view of a smooth pinkish-red bolete cap — 03 The cap is pinkish red and smooth to finely suede-like, with no veil remnants.

04 The red stem is finely streaked but lacks the coarse raised netting expected on Frost’s bolete. This photograph prompted the revised identification.

Curved red bolete stem base with soil and white fungal threads — 05 Soil, litter, and fine white threads cling to the curved stipe base.

Carmine to orange-red pore surface beneath a bolete cap beside a red stem — 06 The underside shows fine pores rather than gills. Their carmine to orange-red color is one of the clearest features supporting *Lanmaoa carminipora*.

No cut is needed for this field note

The existing sequence already records the intact cap, pore surface, stem, base, and surrounding habitat. A section and timed bruising test could add evidence for a formal identification, but they are not necessary for an honest photographic record.

If a future find is abundant and collecting is permitted, a documented voucher and DNA sequence would be more scientifically decisive than cutting this one merely for a web page.

A genomic revision gave this bolete a new name

Fifty-three genomes

A 2026 study compared whole-genome data from 53 Lanmaoa specimens, including 21 type specimens. The analysis used 1,515 single-copy genes and recognized 17 species in the genus.

Colin Domnauer and Bryn T. M. Dentinger · 2026

From Boletus to Lanmaoa

The revision proposed six new combinations. The species described in 1998 as Boletus carminiporus is now treated as Lanmaoa carminipora. Older databases and museum records may still use the original name.

Domnauer and Dentinger · 2026; original species by Bessette, Both, and Dunaway · 1998

A chemistry question in the genus

The same study examined reports of unusual psychoactive effects in the Asian species Lanmaoa asiatica. Its genome lacked the standard biosynthetic genes for psilocybin and ibotenic acid. That finding concerns another species and does not indicate that L. carminipora is psychoactive.

Domnauer and Dentinger · 2026

Exercise Trail #344, Davidson River

The exact observation coordinate is published because the species is not being treated as sensitive and because place is part of natural history. Conditions change quickly in a wet forest. A visit may turn up other fungi, but this fruiting body may already be gone.

Stay on durable surfaces, avoid trampling the slope, and check current U.S. Forest Service notices before visiting.