There is something very strange about this very attractive little mushroom, and it puzzled experts for a very long time. It was thought to be a mycorrhizal fungus, creating a symbioltic relationship with pine trees, but some sharp-eyed mycologists spotted the fact that wherever Gomphidius roseus appeared another, much more common species invariably showed up (although not necessarily at the same time).Suillus bovinus, the Jersey cow bolete, is also found under pine trees, with which it forms an ectomycorrhizal relationship, the fungus and the tree providing each other with some of their nutrient needs.
In fact we now know that Gomphideus roseus is a parasite, feeding on the mycorrhizae created by the bolete and the pine tree. This month I came across a group of these fungi so closely packed that it looked almost as though the Gomphidius and the Suillus species were conjoined at the base. Here's a picture showing the stem bases of one of the spike caps and two young boletes:
Tempted to make a meal of these gorgeous little mushrooms? Although they were collected for many years in some Eastern European countries there are now serious doubts about all of the spike caps, so perhaps it's better to make a meal of the Jersey cow boletes... or maybe the cow itself (although a whole one would probably be too much for most people). 
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