Found in broad-leaved and mixed woodland in the warmer regions of Europe, it is classified as a poisonous mushroom, known to cause violent gastroenteritis.

These squat, brightly coloured fruiting bodies are often massive and imposing, with a beige-coloured velvet-textured cap up to 50 cm (20 in) across, yellow to orange-red pores and a bulbous red stem.

Lenz was aware of several reports of adverse reactions from people who had consumed this fungus and apparently felt himself ill from its "emanations" while describing it, hence giving it its sinister epithet.

When young, the pileus is greyish white to silvery-white or buff, but older specimens tend to develop olivaceous, ochraceous or brownish tinges.

The smell is weak and pleasantly musky in young fruit bodies, but becomes increasingly putrid in older specimens, reminiscent of carrion.

[14][15] Satan's bolete can be confused with a number of other species: Rubroboletus satanas is widely distributed throughout the temperate zone, but is rare in most of its reported localities.

It fruits in the summer and early autumn in warm, broad-leaved and mixed forests, forming ectomycorrhizal associations with oak (Quercus) and sweet chestnut (Castanea), with a preference for calcareous (chalky) soils.

[7] It has further been documented in the Black Sea and eastern Anatolia regions of Turkey,[8][17] as well as Crimea and Ukraine,[18] with its distribution possibly extending as far south as Iran.

The symptoms, which are predominantly gastrointestinal in nature, include nausea, abdominal pain, and violent vomiting with bloody diarrhea that can last up to six hours.

[2] Nevertheless, R. satanas is rarely sampled casually, not least because of the foul smell, which in addition to their bright red colour and blue staining, make this fungus unappealing for human consumption.