The Polyporales are an order of about 1800 species of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. The order includes some polypores as well as many corticioid fungi and a few agarics. Many species within the order are saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters. Some genera, such as Ganoderma and Fomes, contain species that attack living tissues and then continue to degrade the wood of their dead hosts. Those of economic importance include several important pathogens of trees and a few species that cause damage by rotting structural timber. Some of the Polyporales are commercially cultivated and marketed for use as food items or in traditional Chinese medicine.
Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside. They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polypores are closely related to each other. Polypores are also called bracket fungi or shelf fungi, and they characteristically produce woody, shelf- or bracket-shaped or occasionally circular fruiting bodies that are called conks.
The Boletaceae are a family of mushroom-forming fungi, primarily characterised by small pores on the spore-bearing hymenial surface, instead of gills as are found in most agarics. Nearly as widely distributed as the agarics, the family is renowned for hosting some prime edible species highly sought after by mushroom hunters worldwide, such as the cep or king bolete . A number of rare or threatened species are also present in the family, that have become the focus of increasing conservation concerns. As a whole, the typical members of the family are commonly known as boletes.
The Hymenochaetales are an order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes. The order in its current sense is based on molecular research and not on any unifying morphological characteristics. According to one 2008 estimate, the Hymenochaetales contain around 600 species worldwide, mostly corticioid fungi and poroid fungi, but also including several clavarioid fungi and agarics. Species of economic importance include wood decay fungi in the genera Phellinus and Inonotus sensu lato, some of which may cause losses in forestry. Therapeutic properties are claimed for Inonotus obliquus ("chaga") and Phellinus linteus, both of which are now commercially marketed.
Laetiporus sulphureus is a species of bracket fungus found in Europe and North America. Its common names are sulphur polypore, sulphur shelf, and chicken-of-the-woods. Its fruit bodies grow as striking golden-yellow shelf-like structures on tree trunks and branches. Old fruitbodies fade to pale beige or pale grey. The undersurface of the fruit body is made up of tubelike pores rather than gills.
Fomitopsis pinicola, is a stem decay fungus common on softwood and hardwood trees. Its conk is known as the red-belted conk. The species is common throughout temperate Europe and Asia. It is a decay fungus that serves as a small-scale disturbance agent in coastal rainforest ecosystems. It influences stand structure and succession in temperate rainforests. It performs essential nutrient cycling functions in forests. As well as a key producer of brown rot residues that are stable soil components in coniferous forest ecosystems. It has been reported that mushrooms have significant antioxidant activity.
Meripilus giganteus is a polypore fungus in the family Meripilaceae. It causes a white rot in various types of broadleaved trees, particularly beech (Fagus), but also Abies, Picea, Pinus, Quercus and Ulmus species. This bracket fungus, commonly known as the giant polypore or black-staining polypore, is often found in large clumps at the base of trees, although fruiting bodies are sometimes found some distance away from the trunk, parasitizing the roots. M. giganteus has a circumboreal distribution in the northern Hemisphere, and is widely distributed in Europe. In the field, it is recognizable by the large, multi-capped fruiting body, as well as its pore surface that quickly darkens black when bruised or injured.
Fomitopsis is a genus of more than 40 species of bracket fungi in the family Fomitopsidaceae.
Grifola frondosa is a polypore mushroom that grows at the base of trees, particularly old growth oaks or maples. It is typically found in late summer to early autumn. It is native to China, Europe, and North America.
Megasporoporia is a genus of four species of crust fungi in the family Polyporaceae. The genus is characterized by its large spores, and dextrinoid skeletal hyphae.
Laetiporus persicinus, commonly known as the white chicken mushroom, is an edible mushroom of the genus Laetiporus. It is closely related to the chicken mushroom, or Laetiporus sulphureus. Laetiporus persicinus has a salmon pink cap and white pores. This mushroom grows on dead and living hardwood and softwood trees. It was first described scientifically by Miles Berkeley and Moses Ashley Curtis in 1853 as Polyporus persicinus. It has been collected in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, Greenland, Iceland, North America, and South America.
Hapalopilus rutilans is a species of polypore fungus in the family Polyporaceae. Officially described in 1821, it was transferred to its current genus Hapalopilus six decades later. It is commonly known as the tender nesting polypore, purple dye polypore, or the cinnamon bracket. This widely distributed species is found on five continents. It grows on the fallen or standing dead wood of deciduous trees, in which it fruits singly, in groups, fused, or in overlapping clusters. Fruit bodies are in the form of kidney-shaped to semicircular, cinnamon-orange-brown brackets. The underside of the fruit body features a yellowish to brownish pore surface with tiny angular pores, from which spores are released.
Laetiporus ailaoshanensis is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. It is found in southwestern China, where it grows on Lithocarpus. The species was described as new to science in 2014 by Baokai Cui and Jie Song. Its fruit body has an orange-yellow to reddish-orange cap surface, with cream to buff pores on the cap underside. The fungus produces ovoid to ellipsoid basidiospores that measure 5.0–6.2 by 4.0–5.0 μm. Molecular analysis of internal transcribed spacer DNA sequences indicate that L. ailaoshanensis is a unique lineage in the genus Laetiporus.
Laetiporus conifericola is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. It is found in western North America ranging from California to Alaska, where it grows as a plant pathogen on conifer trees, particularly fir, spruce, and hemlock. Fruit bodies of the fungus comprise overlapping pore-bearing plates, measuring collectively up to 60 cm (24 in) across, and up to 4 cm (2 in) thick. Their color ranges from bright orange to salmon orange on the upper surface of the cap and stipe, with a yellow pore surface on the cap underside. Spores are egg-shaped, smooth, hyaline (translucent), and measure 6.5–8.0 by 4.0–5.0 μm. The species has a pleasant odour when fresh.
Laetiporus cremeiporus is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. It is found in cooler temperate areas of China and Japan, where it grows on logs and stumps of hardwood trees, especially oak. The fruit body of the fungus comprises large masses of overlapping reddish-orange caps with a cream-colored pore surface on the underside.
Laetiporus gilbertsonii is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. It is found in western North America and South America. It was one of three new Laetiporus species published in 2001, which were distinguished genetically from the common Laetiporus sulphureus; the others were L. conifericola and L. huroniensis. The type collection, made in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in 1997, was found fruiting on a eucalyptus tree. It has also been collected in Oregon and Washington. The fungus is named in honor of mycologist Robert Lee Gilbertson. L. gilbertsonii is edible, although some people have reported experiencing upset stomach after consuming it. Laetiporus conifericola is very similar in appearance, but is readily distinguished by its growth on conifers.
Laetiporus huroniensis is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. It is found in the Great Lakes region of eastern North America, where it fruits on large logs in old growth conifer forests. The type collection, made in Ottawa National Forest in September 1999, was found fruiting on Tsuga canadensis. It was one of three new Laetiporus species published in 2001, which were distinguished genetically from the widespread Laetiporus sulphureus; the others were L. conifericola and L. gilbertsonii.
Laetiporus montanus is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. It is found in mountainous areas of central Europe and in China, where it grows on conifers.
Laetiporus portentosus is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae, found in South America, Australia, and in the North Island and northern South Island of New Zealand.
