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.
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.
Laricifomes officinalis, also known as agarikon, eburiko, or the quinine conk, is a wood-decay fungus that causes brown heart rot on conifers native to Europe, Asia, and North America, as well as Morocco. This fungus is the only member of the genus Laricifomes, in the order Polyporales. The fruiting bodies grow in large conks on the trunks of trees.
Fuscoporia gilva, commonly known as the oak conk, is a species of fungal plant pathogen which infects several hosts. It produces a tough, corky mushroom when it fruits. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is used to treat stomachaches and cancer; polysaccharides isolated from lab-grown F. gilvus have been shown to inhibit the growth of melanoma in a mouse model.
Porodaedalea pini, commonly known as the pine conk, is a species of fungus in the family Hymenochaetaceae. It is a plant pathogen that causes tree disease commonly known as "red ring rot" or "white speck". This disease, extremely common in the conifers of North America, decays tree trunks, rendering them useless for lumber. It is a rot of the heartwood. Signs of the fungus include shelf-shaped conks protruding from the trunks of trees. Spores produced on these conks are blown by the wind and infect other trees. Formal management of this disease is limited, and the disease is controlled primarily by cultural practices. Red ring rot is an important forest disturbance agent and plays a key role in habitat formation for several forest animals.
Fomes fasciatus, common name the Southern Clam Shell, is a pathogenic white rot fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It is found in the southeastern United States and Central and South America where it can be seen growing on various dead and living hardwood trees. It was first described by Swedish botanist Olof Swartz in Jamaica in 1788 as Boletus fasciatus. It was later transferred by Cooke to Fomes fasciatus in 1885. The genus name "Fomes" translates to tinder as its holotype was historically used to start fires and the specific epithet "fasciatus" translates to "banded", in reference to the bands of brown to grey and black colors that the top of its fruiting body displays.
Phellinus igniarius, commonly known as the willow bracket, fire sponge,false tinder polypore, or false tinder conk, is a fungus of the family Hymenochaetaceae. Like other members of the genus of Phellinus it lives by saprotrophic nutrition, in which the lignin and cellulose of a host tree is degraded and is a cause of white rot.
Fomitopsis is a genus of more than 40 species of bracket fungi in the family Fomitopsidaceae.
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.
Bridgeoporus is a fungal genus in the family Polyporaceae. A monotypic genus, it contains the single polypore species Bridgeoporus nobilissimus, first described to science in 1949. Commonly known both as the noble polypore and the fuzzy Sandozi, this fungus produces large fruit bodies that have been found to weigh up to 130 kilograms (290 lb). The upper surface of the fruit body has a fuzzy or fibrous texture that often supports the growth of algae, bryophytes, or vascular plants.
Polyozellus is a fungal genus in the family Thelephoraceae, a grouping of mushrooms known collectively as the leathery earthfans. Previously considered a monotypic genus, it now contains the Polyozellus multiplex species complex. The genus name is derived from the Greek poly meaning many, and oz, meaning branch. It is commonly known as the blue chanterelle, the clustered blue chanterelle, or, in Alaska, the black chanterelle. The distinctive fruit body of this species comprises blue- to purple-colored clusters of vase- or spoon-shaped caps with veiny wrinkles on the undersurface that run down the length of the stem.
Fomes fomentarius is a species of fungal plant pathogen found in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. The species produces very large polypore fruit bodies which are shaped like a horse's hoof and vary in colour from a silvery grey to almost black, though they are normally brown. It grows on the side of various species of tree, which it infects through broken bark, causing rot. The species typically continues to live on trees long after they have died, changing from a parasite to a decomposer.
Appianoporites is an extinct monotypic genus of fungus in the Agaricomycetes family Hymenochaetaceae. At present it contains the single species Appianoporites vancouverensis.
Phellinus tremulae, the aspen bracket, is a species of polypore fungus in the family Hymenochaetaceae that grows on Populus tremula and on trembling aspen in Canada. The species was first described as Fomes igniarius f. tremulae by Appollinaris Semenovich Bondartsev in 1935. It causes the disease Aspen trunk rot.
Acanthostigma multiseptatum is a species of fungus in the Tubeufiaceae family of fungi. It was isolated from decomposing wood in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A. multiseptatum differs from its cogenerate species by having longer asci and longer ascospores with more septa.
Hygrophorus chrysodon, commonly known as the flaky waxy cap, or gold flecked woodwax is a species of fungus in the genus Hygrophorus. It is edible but bland in taste. The species is found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
Fomitopsis ochracea is a polypore fungus found in North America. It was isolated from Albertan forests, and can be found in British Columbia. It has been isolated as far East as Newfoundland, but prefers Northern climates. It can be isolated throughout the Appalachian range, as far down as Georgia. It is a detritivore on both hardwood trees and conifers, causing a brown cubical rot. It is a member of the genus Fomitopsis, a common group of perennial fungi.
Carbomyces emergens is a desert truffle in the genus Carbomyces, a small genus common to the Chihuahuan desert in the southwestern United States and Mexico. C. emergens is regarded as the most common and widely distributed species in Carbomyces, also serving as the genus' type species. C. emergens belongs to the Carbomycetaceae family, in the order Pezizales, class Pezizomycetes, division Ascomycota.
Echinodontium ballouii is a basidiomycete native to the northeastern United States. It is a polypore and important decomposer of the tree Chamaecyparis thyoides. It was declared an endangered species in 2015 due to the scarcity of this tree, which is threatened by the logging industry. It is probable that around 250 individuals exist today.
