Native to southern Europe, L. lepidum is abundantly present throughout the Mediterranean, growing in mycorrhizal symbiosis with various species of oak (Quercus), particularly evergreen members of the "Ilex" group.

[5] Heinz Engel and colleagues,[6] on the other hand, rejected all previous names and considered the taxon to be a synonym of Leccinum corsicum, a closely related species associated with Cistaceae shrubs.

In 2003, the species was transferred to the newly segregated genus Leccinellum by mycologists Andreas Bresinsky and Manfred Binder, together with other yellow-pored taxa formerly placed in Leccinum.

[7] Subsequent phylogenetic and chemotaxonomical analyses by Binder & Besl[8] and Den Bakker & Noordeloos,[9] questioned the segregation of Leccinellum, but suggested that L. lepidum, L. corsicum and L. crocipodium are probably distinct species.

In a 2014 paper, Bertolini[10] controversially abandoned Leccinellum and placed L. lepidum in synonymy with L. corsicum once again, only for the genus to be reinstated in the same year by Wu and colleagues, in a major contribution delineating 22 generic clades in the family Boletaceae.

[11] The confusion was finally clarified in 2019, when several collections from Corsica, Croatia, Cyprus, France and Greece were analysed in an elaborate phylogenetic, biogeographical and ecological treatment by M. Loizides and colleagues.

[12] In this study, Leccinellum was phylogenetically validated, while L. lepidum, L. corsicum and L. crocipodium formed well-supported lineages within the genus, and were confirmed as distinct species.

It is generally regarded gastronomically inferior to other popular boletes (such as Boletus edulis or B. aereus), while the tendency of its fruit bodies to stain black makes the mushroom unappealing to some people.