French naturalist Lucien Quélet described this species as Boletus armeniacus in 1885,[1] before placing it in the genus Xerocomus in his 1888 work Flore mycologique de la France et des pays limitrophes (Mycological flora of France and neighbouring countries).

Tubes are initially pale yellow, but become more vivid in age, and eventually develop greenish-yellow to greenish-olive tones.

The top part of the stipe is yellow; under this the coloration tends to be masked by a dense and fine reticulation that becomes brown to brownish-crimson in age.

The flesh sometimes shows a slight and temporary color change to blue when cut or otherwise injured, but this feature is not consistent.

The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are club-shaped, four-spored, and contain internal oil droplets; they measure 28–35 by 9–12 μm.