The genus was circumscribed in 2014 by mycologists David Arora and Jonathan L. Frank to accommodate "butter bolete" species that were shown by molecular analysis to be phylogenetically distinct from Boletus.

[1][2][3] The group had earlier been classified as the section Appendiculati within the large genus Boletus.

[2] Genetic analysis published in 2013 shows that these species are part of a regius clade (named for B. regius), distinct from the core group of the type species B. edulis and relatives within the Boletineae.

[2] The butter boletes have red or brown caps, yellow pores and stipes that turn blue when cut or bruised in many species, and olive-brown spindle-shaped spores.

[5] Butyriboletus roseoflavus is a highly regarded edible mushroom sold in markets in southwestern and southeastern China,[6] while two other species—B.