The species was first named 1936 as Boletus felleus forma plumbeoviolaceus by American mycologist Walter H. Snell and one of his graduate students, Esther A. Dick, based on specimens found in the Black Rock Forest near Cornwall, New York [REF].
The specific name "plumbeoviolaceus" is coined from the Latin adjectives plumbeus ("leaden" or "lead-colored") and violaceus ("purple") [REF].