It associates with birch trees and is typically found in boggy or swampy areas, often growing among sphagnum moss.

The whitish surface of the stipe is covered with small, stiff, projecting scales (scabers) that become tan or darker in age.

Some varieties of Leccinum holopus have been described that vary in cap color or staining reaction, but DNA evidence suggests that most are the same taxon.

Initially named as a species of Boletus by German mycologist Friedrich Rostkovius in 1844,[2] the fungus was later transferred to Leccinum by Roy Watling in 1960.

[14] The variety americanum, described by Alexander H. Smith and Harry Delbert Thiers in 1971 from collections made in Michigan, injured flesh stains reddish.

[21] Fruitbodies of Leccinum holopus have convex to flattened caps measuring 3–10 cm (1.2–3.9 in) in diameter, with a narrow band of sterile tissue surrounding the margin.

The caps are initially whitish, but can develop gray, buff, tan, or pinkish tints during maturity; the color may also darken and become greenish with age.

[12] The cap surface is initially covered with very fine hairs,[22] but later becomes more or less smooth, often with a sticky texture in age or in moist conditions.

The flesh is white and lacks any distinct odor or taste; it can have either little or no bruising color reaction with injury,[12] or may become light pink in variety americanum.

[23] On the cap underside is a porous surface comprising pores numbering 2 to 3 per millimeter, each of which is the end of a tube that extends to 2.5 cm (1.0 in) deep.

[29] It fruits on the ground (often among Sphagnum moss), singly to scattered in wet areas like cedar swamps, bogs, or soggy forests.