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.
Perenniporia is a cosmopolitan genus of bracket-forming or crust-like polypores in the family Polyporaceae. They are dimitic or trimitic with smooth, thick-walled basidiospores and cause a white rot in affected wood.
Perenniporia medulla-panis is a species of poroid fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It is a plant pathogen that infects stone fruit trees. The species was first described by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin in 1778. Marinus Anton Donk transferred it to the genus Perenniporia in 1967.
Spathularia flavida, commonly known as the yellow earth tongue, the yellow fan, or the fairy fan, is an ascomycete fungus found in coniferous forests of Asia, Europe and North America. It produces a small, fan- or spoon-shaped fruit body with a flat, wavy or lobed cream to yellow colored "head" raised on a white to cream stalk. The height is usually approximately 2–5 cm, and up to 8 cm. The fungus fruits on the ground in mosses, forest duff or humus, and fruit bodies may occur singly, in large groups, or in fairy rings. The spores produced by the fungus are needle-like, and up to 95 micrometres long. Several varieties have been described that differ largely in their microscopic characteristics. S. flavida has been described by authorities variously as inedible, of unknown edibility, or edible but tough.
Rhizoctonia noxia is a species of fungus in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps are thin, effused, and web-like. The species is tropical to sub-tropical and is mainly known as a plant pathogen, the causative agent of "kole-roga" or black rot of coffee and various blights of citrus and other trees.
Lactarius helvus, commonly known as fenugreek milkcap, is a member of the large milkcap genus Lactarius in the order Russulales. Fruiting bodies can be found in Sphagnum moss in coniferous and deciduous woodland in Europe, and possibly North America, although considerable debate continues about the North American variety, formerly referred to as Lactarius aquifluus. Mushrooms are pale brown-grey or beige in colour and funnel-shaped, with colourless, watery milk. Its distinctive smell has been likened to fenugreek, celery, liquorice, or Maggi instant soup. Mildly toxic when raw, it has been implicated in the poisoning of 418 people near Leipzig in October 1949. However, it is used in small quantities as a spice when dried. Sotolon, the agent that gives the fungus its odour, also occurs in fenugreek, maple syrup and lovage.
Hydnellum is a genus of tooth fungi in the family Bankeraceae. Widely distributed in the Northern Hemisphere, the genus contains around 40 species. The fruitbodies of its members grow by slowly enveloping nearby bits of grass and vegetation. There is great variability in the form of Hydnellum fruitbodies, which are greatly influenced by environmental conditions such as rainfall and humidity, drying winds, and temperature. They are too tough and woody to eat comfortably. Several species have become the focus of increasing conservation concern following widespread declines in abundance.
Navisporus is a genus of seven species of tropical poroid fungi in the family Polyporaceae. It was circumscribed by Norwegian mycologist Leif Ryvarden in 1980 with Navisporus floccosus as the type species. This fungus, first described as Trametes floccosa by Giacomo Bresadola in 1896, is thought to have been originally collected in Tanzania.
Lactarius alnicola, commonly known as the golden milkcap, is a species of fungus in the family Russulaceae. The fruit bodies produced by the fungus are characterized by a sticky, vanilla-colored cap up to 20 cm (7.9 in) wide with a mixture of yellow tones arranged in faint concentric bands. The stem is up to 5 cm (2.0 in) long and has yellow-brown spots. When it is cut or injured, the mushroom oozes a white latex, which has an intensely peppery taste. The acrid taste of the fruit bodies renders them unpalatable. The fungus is found in the western United States and Mexico, where it grows in mycorrhizal associations with various coniferous trees species, such as spruce, pine and fir, and deciduous species such as oak and alder. It has also been collected in India. Two varieties have been named: var. pitkinensis, known from Colorado, and var. pungens, from Michigan.
Lactarius fumosus, commonly known as the smoky milkcap, is a species of fungus in the family Russulaceae.
Lactifluus deceptivus, commonly known as the deceiving milkcap, is a common species of fungus in the family Russulaceae. It is found throughout eastern North America on the ground in coniferous forests near hemlock or deciduous forests near oak, and in oak-dominated forests of Costa Rica. It produces large mushrooms with funnel-shaped caps reaching up to 25 cm (9.8 in) in diameter, on top of hard white stems that may reach 4–10 cm (1.6–3.9 in) long and up to 3 cm (1.2 in) thick. The gills are closely spaced together and yellowish-cream in color. When young, the cap is white in all parts, but the depressed center becomes dull brownish in age and breaks up into scales. The edge of the cap has a roll of cottony tissue that collapses as the cap expands. The surface of the stem—especially near the base—has a velvety texture. The mushroom "bleeds" a milky white acrid latex when it is cut or injured. Similar milk-cap species with which L. deceptivus might be confused include Lactifluus piperatus, L. pseudodeceptivus, L. caeruleitinctus, L. subvellereus, Lactarius arcuatus and Lactarius parvulus.
Coprinopsis variegata, commonly known as the scaly ink cap or the feltscale inky cap, is a species of fungus in the family Psathyrellaceae. Distributed in eastern North America, it has a medium-sized, bell-shaped to flattened cap up to 7.5 cm (3.0 in) in diameter, with felt-like, patchy scales. The gills, initially white, turn black in maturity and eventually dissolve into a black "ink". Fruit bodies grow in clusters or groups on leaf litter or rotted hardwood, although the wood may be buried, giving the appearance of growing in the soil. The fungus is found in the United States, in areas east of the Great Plains. Coprinus ebulbosus and Coprinus quadrifidus are names assigned by Charles Horton Peck to what he believed were species distinct from C. variegata; they were later shown to represent the same species, and are now synonyms. The mushroom is not recommended for consumption, and has been shown to cause allergic reactions in susceptible individuals.
Clavariadelphus ligula, commonly known as the strap coral, is a species of fungus in the family Gomphaceae. It produces club-shaped fruit bodies with spongy flesh that grow in groups on the forest floor. It is found in Asia, Europe, and North America.
Puccinia mariae-wilsoniae, commonly known as the spring beauty rust, is a species of rust fungus found in North America. A plant pathogen, it grows on the leaves of the spring beauty flowering plants Claytonia caroliniana and C. virginica.
Mycena purpureofusca, commonly known as the purple edge bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First described by Charles Horton Peck in 1885, the species is found in Europe and North America, where it grows on the decaying wood and debris of conifers, including cones. Fruit bodies have conical to bell-shaped purple caps up to 2.5 cm (1 in) set atop slender stipes up to 10 cm (4 in) long. The mushroom is named for the characteristic dark greyish-purple color of its gill edges. In the field, M. purpureofusca mushrooms can usually be distinguished from similar species by characteristics such as the dark purple gill edges, the deep purple cap center, and its cartilagineous consistency. The fungus contains a laccase enzyme that has been investigated scientifically for its potential to detoxify recalcitrant industrial dyes used in textile dyeing and printing processes.
Hydnellum spongiosipes, commonly known as the velvet tooth, is a tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae. It is found in Europe and North America. In Switzerland, it is considered a vulnerable species.
Phellodon niger, commonly known as the black tooth, is a species of tooth fungus in the family Bankeraceae, and the type species of the genus Phellodon. It was originally described by Elias Magnus Fries in 1815 as a species of Hydnum. Petter Karsten included it as one of the original three species when he circumscribed Phellodon in 1881. The fungus is found in Europe and North America, although molecular studies suggest that the North American populations represent a similar but genetically distinct species.
Truncospora is a genus of 10 species of fungi in the family Polyporaceae.
Tremella exigua is a species of fungus in the family Tremellaceae. It produces small, dark, pustular, gelatinous basidiocarps and is parasitic on pyrenomycetous fungi on dead branches of trees and shrubs. It was originally described from France.
