Black-footed polypore

Description:

This distinctive polypore is typically a fall species, often found on decaying hardwood logs across the continent. Its stem is black, and its dark reddish brown cap is fairly large, measuring up to 20 cm. The smaller Polyporus varius has a paler cap, and is usually found on smaller hardwood branches and sticks. Description: Ecology: Saprobic on decaying hardwood and conifer wood; causing a white rot; growing alone or in small groups; fall and winter (though I have found it in the spring); widely distributed in North America. Cap: 4-20 cm; broadly convex to shallowly vase-shaped; round in outline, kidney-shaped, or lobed; dry; smooth; dark reddish brown to dark brown, often paler towards the margin (rarely pale overall, with a reddish brown center). Pore Surface: White, becoming dingy in age; often running down the stem; pores circular and very tiny (4-6 per mm), not easily separable from cap. Stem: Central or off-center to lateral; 1-6 cm long; 5-1.5 cm wide; equal; dry; pale at the apex but soon black nearly overall; tough. Flesh: White; thin; very tough. Spore Print: White ( mushroom expert)

Habitat:

location: North America, Europe edibility: Inedible fungus colour: Brown, Grey to beige normal size: over 15cm cap type: Other stem type: Lateral, rudimentary or absent spore colour: White, cream or yellowish habitat: Grows on wood Polyporus badius (Pers. ex S. F. Gray) Schur. syn. P. picipes Fr. Schwarzfussporling Polypore à pied couleur de poix. Cap 5–20cm across, infundibuliform, often lopsided and lobed, viscid when fresh drying smooth and shiny, pallid grey-brown at first then chestnut, darker at the centre, very thin. Stem 20–35 x 5–15mm, usually eccentric, black at least at the base. Taste bitter. Tubes 0.5–2.5mm long, white later cream, decurrent down the stem. Pores 4–7 per mm, circular, white to cream. Spores white, elongate-ellipsoid, 5–9 x 3–4um. Hyphal structure dimitic with generative and binding hyphae; generative hyphae lacking clamps. Habitat on dead or living deciduous trees. Season spring to autumn, annual. Occasional. Not edible. Distribution, America and Europe. (rogersmushrooms)

Notes:

Polyporus badius Scientific name: Polyporus badius (Pers.: S.F. Gray) Schw. Derivation of name: Polyporus means "many pores"; badius means " reddish-brown" in reference to the color of the cap. Synonymy: Polyporus picipes Fr. Common names: Black-footed polypore. Phylum: Basidiomycota Order: Polyporales Family: Polyporaceae Occurrence on wood substrate: Saprobic, scattered or in groups on decaying deciduous wood; August through December. Dimensions: Caps 4-20 cm wide; stipes central to eccentric, 1-4 cm long and 3-16 mm thick, black below. Upper surface: Dark reddish-brown, paler toward margin, blackish with age; margin thin, wavy, or lobed. Pore surface: Whitish to pale buff; pores 6-8 per mm. Edibility: Inedible. Comments: Large specimens are unmistakable and easy to identify. ( http://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wo... )