The fruit bodies (mushrooms) have orangish-red, broadly convex caps that are up to 10 cm (3.9 in) in diameter, with small, dark reddish pores on the underside.

The species was described by American mycologists Alexander H. Smith and Harry D. Thiers in their 1971 monograph on the bolete fungi of Michigan.

Section Luridi is characterized by boletes that immediately turn blue with cutting or bruising, narrow pores that are usually red, and the occasional presence of toxins in the fruit bodies.

According to the scheme proposed by Smith and Thiers, the form of the dermatocystidia (cystidia on the cap cuticle) is important to species delimitation in section Luridi.

In a 1993 study, however, Roland Treu found no major consistent microscopic differences between B. subluridellus, B. rufocinnamomeus, and B. roseobadius.

All parts of the fruit body (cap surface, flesh, pores, and stipe) will quickly stain blue when injured or touched.

[1] Boletus roseolateritius, known from Mississippi, has a cap that changes color according to its age: it is initially dark reddish to orangish, later reddish brown at maturity, fading to brownish orange or brownish pink with dull yellow tints, and finally turning dull dingy yellow in age.

[7] Boletus subluridellus is a mycorrhizal fungus, and grows in association with deciduous trees, especially oak (genus Quercus).

Fruit bodies grow scattered or in groups on the ground in deciduous or mixed forests, and appear from July to October.