red-banded polypore

Description:

Scientific name: Fomitopsis pinicola (Swartz:Fr.) Karst. Derivation of name: Fomitopsis means having the appearance of Fomes; pinicola means "inhabiting pines." Synonymy: Fomes pinicola (Swartz ex Fries) Cooke, Polyporus pinicola Swartz:Fr. Common names: Red-belted polypore. Phylum: Basidiomycota Order: Polyporales Family: Fomitopsidaceae Occurrence on wood substrate: Saprobic and parasitic; solitary or in groups on decaying wood or living trees, especially conifers; year-round. Dimensions: Caps up to 45 cm wide. Upper surface: Caps concentrically grooved; rusty-red with a yellowish margin at first, becoming gray to reddish- brown to blackish-brown or nearly black, often with a sticky, resinous, reddish marginal band. Pore surface: Creamy white at first, becoming brownish in age; pores 4-5 per mm Edibility: Inedible. Comments: This perennial species has a thick, rounded margin which is not always red, contrary to its common name. ( http://www.messiah.edu/Oakes/fungi_on_wo... )

Habitat:

location: North America, Europe edibility: Inedible fungus colour: Brown, Black or blackish normal size: over 15cm cap type: Other stem type: Lateral, rudimentary or absent flesh: Pore material cannot be seperated from flesh of the cap spore colour: White, cream or yellowish habitat: Grows on wood Fomitopsis pinicola (Swartz ex Fr.) Karsten. Fichtenporling Unguline marginee. Fruit body perennial; no stem. Up to 38cm across, 20cm wide, 15cm thick, convex to hoof-shaped, with a thickened, rounded margin; upper surface with a sticky reddish-brown resinous crust, then grayish to brown or black; hard, woody, smooth or glossy-looking. Tubes up to 6mm deep per season; cream to buff. Pores 5-6 per mm, circular; surface cream-colored. Flesh up to 12cm thick, corky, hard, woody; cream to buff, sometimes zoned. Spores cylindrical ellipsoid, smooth, 6-9 x 3.5-4.5µ. Deposit whitish. Hyphal structure trimitic; clamps present. Habitat on dead conifer stumps and logs and occasionally on living trees. Found throughout Europe and most of North America except the South from Texas eastward. Season all year. Not edible. Comment The most commonly collected polypore in North America. The cap colors are rather variable ( http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/D... )

Notes:

Fomitopsis pinicola is one of the most conspicuous and widely distributed polypores in coniferous forest regions of the northern hemisphere. It is a major factor in the production of brown rot residues that are a stable soil component in coniferous forest ecosystems. Distinguishing features for Fomitopsis pinicola include its tough, woody consistency (it is perennial, and develops a new tube layer every year); the varnished cap surface that is usually red to reddish brown with a white or yellow margin; the cream colored pore surface that does not bruise brown; and the red reaction of the flesh to KOH. Similar species include Ganoderma tsugae (annual and corky, rather than perennial and woody) and Heterobasidion annosum (with less clearly defined, browner caps). ( http://www.mushroomexpert.com/fomitopsis... )