| Loweomyces fractipes | |
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| Loweomyces fractipes | |
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| Species: | L. fractipes |
| Binomial name | |
| Loweomyces fractipes (Berk. & M.A.Curtis) Jülich (1982) | |
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Loweomyces fractipes is a species of poroid fungus in the family Steccherinaceae, and the type species of the genus Loweomyces . It is a widely distributed species, found in North America, Europe, Central America, South America, and Korea.
The fungus was originally described in 1872 as Polypores fractipes by Miles Berkeley and Moses Ashley Curtis. The type specimens had been sent to Berkeley by American botanist Henry William Ravenel. [2] It has been transferred to many different polypore genera in its taxonomic history. William Murrill moved it to Grifola in 1904, [3] while it was later transferred to Abortiporus (Bondartsev, 1959), Heteroporus (Fidalgo, 1969), [4] and Spongipellis (Kotlaba & Pouzar, 1976). [5] In 1982, Walter Jülich transferred it to Loweomyces , originally a subgenus of Spongipellis but elevated to generic status by Jülich. [6]
Heterotypic synonyms (having different types) of Loweomyces fractipes include Abortiporus tropicalisMurrill (1910), Polyporus delicatusBerk. & M.A.Curtis (1872), and Polyporus humilisPeck (1874). [7]
The fruit bodies of Loweomyces fractipes can be quite variable in form. The stipe is placed centrally to laterally, dimidiate with fan- to kidney-shaped caps or almost effused-reflexed, 1–4 cm wide, 1–5 mm thick, soft when fresh, brittle when dry. The upper surface of the cap is white in young specimens, but becomes yellowish with age, at first finely tomentose, with age more adpressed and semi-glabrous, often somewhat wrinkled, usually azonate. When the stipe is present it is white to yellowish, measuring up to 4 cm long, and it is cylindric to flattened and expanded towards the cap. The colour of the pore surface is white to cream, and consists of tiny, angular pores numbering 4–5 per millimetre. The context in cap and stipe are white and comprise two layers: a hard inner or lower layer that is covered with a much looser layer, which may be agglutinated on the surface with age. The tube layer is the same colour as the pore surface, and up to 3 mm thick. [8]
The hyphal system is monomitic, containing only generative hyphae. These hyphae have clamp connections, which in the subhymenium and trama are thin-walled and 3–5 μm in diameter. In the context and especially the stipe, the hyphae are much more thick-walled and reminiscent of skeletal hyphae, but with scattered clamps. These hyphae are interpreted by Ryvarden as sclerified generative hyphae. Cystidia are variably present in the hymenium. They are often difficult to observe during microscopy. Their shape is ventricose to cylindrical, and they are thin-walled, measuring 15–25 by 5–6.5 μm. The basidia are broadly club-shaped, and have four sterigmata. They have a basal clamp, and measure 15–20 by 6–9 μm. The shape of the spores ranges from broadly ellipsoid to egg-shaped to more or less spherical, and measure 4.5–6 by 4–5 μm. They are slightly thick-walled, smooth, hyaline (translucent), and are non-reactive with Melzer's reagent. [8]
Loweomyces fractipes is found in Europe, North America, Costa Rica, [9] South America (Brazil), [10] and Korea. [11]
The Polyporaceae are a family of poroid fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota. The flesh of their fruit bodies varies from soft to very tough. Most members of this family have their hymenium in vertical pores on the underside of the caps, but some of them have gills or gill-like structures. Many species are brackets, but others have a definite stipe – for example, Polyporus badius.
The Meruliaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 47 genera and 420 species. As of April 2018, Index Fungorum accepts 645 species in the family.
The Steccherinaceae are a family of about 200 species of fungi in the order Polyporales. It includes crust-like, toothed, and poroid species that cause a white rot in dead wood.
Buglossoporus is a genus of fungi in the family Fomitopsidaceae. The genus was circumscribed in 1966 by Czech mycologists František Kotlába and Zdeněk Pouzar, with Buglossoporus quercinus as the type species. In some works, Buglossoporus has been treated as a synonym of Piptoporus.
Neofavolus alveolaris, commonly known as the hexagonal-pored polypore, is a species of fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It causes a white rot of dead hardwoods. Found on sticks and decaying logs, its distinguishing features are its yellowish to orange scaly cap, and the hexagonal or diamond-shaped pores. It is widely distributed in North America, and also found in Asia, Australia, and Europe.
Ceriporiopsis is a genus of fungi in the family Phanerochaetaceae. The genus is widely distributed, and, according to a 2008 estimate, contains about 25 species. Ceriporiopsis was circumscribed in 1963 by Polish mycologist Stanislaw Domanski. The genus is a wastebasket taxon, containing "species that share common macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, but are not necessarily related." Ceriporiopsis species are crust fungi that cause a white rot. They have a monomitic hyphal system, containing only generative hyphae, and these hyphae have clamp connections.
Antrodiella is a genus of fungi in the family Steccherinaceae of the order Polyporales.
Bjerkandera is a genus of wood-rotting fungi in the family Meruliaceae.
Loweomyces is a genus of six species of poroid fungi in the family Steccherinaceae.
Dichomitus is a genus of poroid crust fungi in the family Polyporaceae. It was circumscribed by English mycologist Derek Reid in 1965.
Favolus, or honeycomb fungus, is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. The fruit bodies of Favolus species are fleshy with radially arranged pores on the underside of the cap that are angular and deeply pitted, somewhat resembling a honeycomb.
Microporellus is a genus of poroid fungi in the family Polyporaceae.
Nigroporus is a genus of poroid fungi in the family Steccherinaceae. The genus was circumscribed by American mycologist William Alphonso Murrill in 1905. Nigroporus has a pantropical distribution. The genus name combines the Latin word niger ("black") with the Ancient Greek word πόρος ("pore").
Pachykytospora is a small genus of poroid fungi in the family Polyporaceae. Species in the cosmopolitan genus cause white rot. There are about 10 species in the genus, with newest member described from European Russia in 2007. Pachykytospora species have fruit bodies that are resupinate, with light brown tubes. They are characterized by their uneven, ellipsoid spores, and the Polyporus-like skeletal-binding hyphae.
Skeletocutis is a genus of about 40 species of poroid fungi in the family Polyporaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, although most species are found in the Northern Hemisphere. It causes a white rot in a diverse array of woody substrates, and the fruit bodies grow as a crust on the surface of the decaying wood. Sometimes the edges of the crust are turned outward to form rudimentary bracket-like caps.
Tyromyces is a genus of poroid fungi in the family Polyporaceae. It was circumscribed by mycologist Petter Karsten in 1881. The type species is the widely distributed Tyromyces chioneus, commonly known as the white cheese polypore. The phylogenetic position of Tyromyces within the Polyporales is uncertain, but it appears that it does not belong to the "core polyporoid clade". Tyromyces is polyphyletic as it is currently circumscribed, and has been described as "a dumping place for monomitic white-rot species with thin-walled spores."
Picipes badius, commonly known as the black-footed polypore or black-leg, is a species of fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It causes a white rot of hardwoods and conifers. The species is found in temperate areas of Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. It has a dark brown or reddish-brown cap that reaches a diameter of 25 cm (9.8 in), and a stipe that is often completely black or brown at the top and black at the base.
Pycnoporellus alboluteus, commonly known as the orange sponge polypore, is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae. Distributed throughout the boreal conifer zone, the fungus is found in mountainous regions of western North America, and in Europe. It causes a brown cubical rot of conifer wood, especially spruce, but also fir and poplar. The soft, spongy orange fruit bodies grow spread out on the surface of fallen logs. Mature specimens have tooth-like or jagged pore edges. A snowbank mushroom, P. alboluteus can often be found growing on logs or stumps protruding through melting snow. Although the edibility of the fungus and its usage for human culinary purposes are unknown, several species of beetles use the fungus as a food source.
Tyromyces pulcherrimus, commonly known as the strawberry bracket, is a species of poroid fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It is readily recognisable by its reddish fruit bodies with pores on the cap underside. The fungus is found natively in Australia and New Zealand, where it causes a white rot in living and dead logs of southern beech and eucalyptus. In southern Brazil, it is an introduced species that is associated with imported eucalypts.
Perenniporia stipitata is a species of poroid fungus in the family Polyporaceae. Found in Brazil, it was described as a new species in 1987 by Norwegian mycologist Leif Ryvarden.
