If you have never seen an intermediate/younger form of this mushroom growing in the NJ Pine Barrens, you would never guess this clunky, ugly and very smelly bolete is T. balloui and probably drive yourself crazy trying to ID it. Fortunately, I have -- see obs 74480 from 5 years ago -- but neither that nor the normal/pretty form (obs 74479) is what we usually find. For another example of this monstrosity, see obs 245958. The dramatically tapered down to a point stipes and caespitose growth are a very common occurrence. The exposed context is bruising pinkish-brown. The taste is immediately bitter. The odor is reminiscent of a musty cellar. The observed chemical tests are consistent with those reported in NAB for this species: KOH = amber brown changing to chocolate brown and fading back to medium brown on pileipellis; yellow on cap context FeSO4 = blue changing to deep violet blue on pileipellis; inky blue on cap context.