Suillus fuscotomentosus   Thiers & Smith (1964)

This species is abundant in the Sierra Nevada foothills under Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) It can fruit clustered and the fruitbodies can reach impressive sizes (up to 6in/20cm). The only other place where it fruits frequently is in some Bay Area Parks under another 3-needled host -- Monterey pine. The forms seen in the Bay Area correspond well to what Smith and Thiers described from The Presidio in San Francisco as  Suillus acerbus, but has since been believed to simply represent Suillus fuscotomentosus. Whether S. acerbus and S. fuscotomentosus are truly the same species will be a subject of further study by me. I have never seen this Suillus species in the Coastal forests.

Similarly to Suillus pungens, in the Bay Area, there seems to be an interesting relationship with Chroogomphus vinicolor -- the two species fruit together at the same time and frequently in joint clusters.