Boletellus ananas for the species is therefore "Boletus ananas" M.A. Curtis 1848, the basionym of "Boletellus ananas". "Boletellus ananas", as the type species of the genus "Boletellus", is in section "Boletellus" that Singer based on the scaly, dry cap with red-pink tones, a marginal veil that clasps the stem when immature, and longitudinally ridged spores that are greater than 16 μm long. The genus name "Boletellus" means "small boletus", while the specific epithet "ananas" alludes to the name for pineapple, referring to the pineapple-like pattern of scales on the cap surface. The mushroom is commonly known as the "pineapple bolete". The cap
Boletellus ananas following an extended period of rain and high humidity. Some varieties of "B. ananas" from southeastern North America, Costa Rica, Brazil, Panama, Nicaragua, and Guyana have been noted to fruit on tree trunks, although terrestrial fruiting has been reported in Malaysia and Central America. Due to the typically elevated fruiting habit and occurrence on dead wood, the ectomycorrhizal status of "B. ananas" has been debated; in the protolog Murrill noted "it always occurs either as a wound parasite on pine trunks or about the base of living pine trees." All collections have been made in association with ectotrophic host trees