Phellinus

Phellinus
Phellinus pomaceus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Fungi
Division:	Basidiomycota
Class:	Agaricomycetes
Order:	Hymenochaetales
Family:	Hymenochaetaceae
Genus:	Phellinus Quél. (1886)
Type species
Phellinus igniarius (L.) Quél. (1886)
Species
See List of Phellinus species

Phellinus is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenochaetaceae. Many species cause white rot. Fruit bodies, which are found growing on wood, are resupinate, sessile, and perennial. The flesh is tough and woody or cork-like, and brown in color. Clamp connections are absent, and the skeletal hyphae are yellowish-brown. ^[1]

The name Phellinus means cork. ^[2]

The species Phellinus ellipsoideus (previously Fomitiporia ellipsoidea) produced the largest ever fungal fruit body. ^{[3] [4]}

Phellinin A-B.png

Phellinus species produce a number of natural chemicals which are of interest to science. These include the natural phenol hispidin, ^[5] bio-active styrylpyrones called phelligridins, ^[6] and bio-active isolates called phellinins. ^[7]

Uses

In Australia, Indigenous Australians have used Phellinus fruit bodies medicinally. The smoke from burning fruit bodies was inhaled by those with sore throats. Scrapings from slightly charred fruit bodies were drunk with water to treat coughing, sore throats, "bad chests", fevers and diarrhoea. There is some uncertainty about which species of Phellinus were used. ^[8]

Species

Main article: List of Phellinus species

As of January 2025 ^[update] , Index Fungorum lists 81 species in the genus Phellinus. Selected species include:

• Phellinus ellipsoideus
• Phellinus igniarius
• Phellinus lundellii
• Phellinus pomaceus
• Phellinus tremulae
• Phellinus viticola

The widespread species Fulvifomes robiniae was formerly considered within Phellinus, but was moved to the genus Fulvifomes when that genus was resurrected based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence. ^[9]

References

1. Ellis MB, Ellis JB. (1990). "Phellinus". Fungi Without Gills (Hymenomycetes and Gasteromycetes): An Identification Handbook. London, UK: Chapman and Hall. pp. 145–50. ISBN   978-0-412-36970-4.
2. Halpern GM (2007). "Phellinus linteus". Healing Mushrooms. Square One Publishers. p. 95. ISBN   978-0-7570-0196-3.
3. Cui B-K, Decock C. (2012). "Phellinus castanopsidis sp. nov. (Hymenochaetaceae) from southern China, with preliminary phylogeny based on rDNA sequences". Mycological Progress. 12 (2): 341–51. doi:10.1007/s11557-012-0839-5. S2CID   17570036.
4. Dai Y-C, Cui B-K. (2011). "Fomitiporia ellipsoid has the largest fruiting body among the fungi". Fungal Biology. 115 (9): 813–4. Bibcode:2011FunB..115..813D. doi:10.1016/j.funbio.2011.06.008. PMID   21872178.
5. Lee I-K, Yun B-S. (2007). "Highly oxygenated and unsaturated metabolites providing a diversity of hispidin class antioxidants in the medicinal mushrooms Inonotus and Phellinus". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry. 15 (10): 3309–14. doi:10.1016/j.bmc.2007.03.039. PMID   17387019.
6. Lee, In-Kyoung; Han, Myung-Suk; Lee, Myeong-Seok; Kim, Young-Sook; Yun, Bong-Sik (2010-09-15). "Styrylpyrones from the medicinal fungus Phellinus baumii and their antioxidant properties". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 20 (18): 5459–5461. doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2010.07.093. ISSN   1464-3405. PMID   20708931.
7. Lee, In-Kyoung; Jung, Jin-Young; Kim, Young-Ho; Yun, Bong-Sik (May 2010). "Phellinins B and C, new styrylpyrones from the culture broth of Phellinus sp". The Journal of Antibiotics. 63 (5): 263–266. doi: 10.1038/ja.2010.25 . ISSN   1881-1469. PMID   20339398.
8. Kalotas A. (1996). "Aboriginal knowledge and use of fungi". Introduction—Fungi in the Environment. Fungi of Australia. Vol. 1B. Melbourne: CSIRO. pp. 269–95. ISBN   978-0-643-05936-8.
9. Salvador-Montoya, Carlos A.; Popoff, Orlando F.; Reck, Mateus; Drechsler-Santos, Elisandro R. (1 March 2018). "Taxonomic delimitation of Fulvifomes robiniae (Hymenochaetales, Basidiomycota) and related species in America: F. squamosus sp. nov" (PDF). Plant Systematics and Evolution. 304 (3): 445–459. doi:10.1007/s00606-017-1487-7 . Retrieved 11 January 2025.