"Paxillus involutus" can be found growing on lawns and old meadows throughout its distribution. Fruit bodies are generally terrestrial, though they may be found on woody material around tree stumps. They generally appear in autumn and late summer. In California, David Arora discerned a larger form associated with oak and pine which appears in late autumn and winter, as well as the typical form that is associated with birch plantings and appears in autumn. Several species of flies and beetles have been recorded using the fruit bodies to rear their young. The mushroom can be infected by "Hypomyces chrysospermus", or bolete eater, a mould species that parasitises Boletales members. Infection results in the appearance of a whitish powder that first manifests on the pores, then spreads over the surface of the mushroom, becoming golden yellow to reddish-brown in maturity.