Group E - Poroid Fungi with round or angular pores, one
layer of tubes, and a
yellowish brown or darker brown Context

 

1. Basidiocarp with more or less of a distinct stem

    2. Upper surface of basidiocarp covered with a red varnish; only on hardwoods

        3. Flesh of cap with melanoid bands but without concentric growth zones..................Ganoderma curtisii

        3. Flesh of cap without melanoid bands but with concentric growth zones .................Ganoderma sessile

    2. Upper surface not varnished; only on conifers, mostly stipitate on ground from roots; context
        of uniform texture, not of two layers of different consistency .........................................Phaeolus schweinitzii

1. Basidiocarp not with a stem but of the bracket type (sessile)

    4. Upper surface of basidiocarp red varnished

        5. Flesh of cap with melanoid bands but without concentric growth zones..................Ganoderma curtisii

        5. Flesh of cap without melanoid bands but with concentric growth zones .................Ganoderma sessile

    4. Upper surface not red varnished

        6. Growing only on conifers

            7. Pileus tomentose, soft when fresh, brittle when dry ...........................................Phaeolus schweinitzii

            7. Pileus glabrous; corky or leathery ......................................................................Rhodofomes cajanderi

        6. Growing on hardwoods

            8. Basidiocarp a more or less globose mass, with many small,
                closely overlapping pilei ..............................................................................Globifomes graveolens

            8. Basidiocarp a single bracket or a few overlapping pilei

                9. Pore surface white and bruising brown

                    10. Cap surface dark brown to blackish with resinous, roughened and/or
                          radially wrinkled surface; cap surface (cuticle) not hard/horny;
                          context whitish to pale brown, soft and fleshy when young, tougher
                          and brownish with maturity; tubes 2-8 mm deep; flesh (context)
                          negative to brownish to grayish on contact with KOH..............................Ischnoderma resinosum

                    10.  Cap surface gray to grayish-black or brown; often concentrically
                           furrowed; cap surface (cuticle) hard/horny; context brownish, woody
                           or corky even when young; tubes 0.5-2 cm deep; flesh (context)
                           instantly black on contact with KOH.

                        11. Cap cuticle can be cracked/fractured ("crunched-in") by
                              pressing in with a thumb..................................................................Ganoderma lobatum

                        11. Cap cuticle too hard to be cracked/fractured
                              ("crunched-in") by pressing in with a thumb.................................Ganoderma applanatum

                9. Pore surface not white and bruising brown

                    12. Basidiocarp turning violet where touched with KOH ..........................Hapalopilus rutilans
        
                    12. Basidiocarp turning black or darker (but not violet) where touched with KOH solution

                        13. Basidiocarp 2.5 - 15 cm wide and up to 2 cm thick; on various dead hardwood
                              species; upper surface dark, rusty brown to black with age, velvety at least
                              on yellow-ochre growing margin ..........................................................Fuscoporia gilva

                        13. Basidiocarp not as above

                              14. Basidiocarp up to 35 cm wide and 10 cm thick; mostly at base of living oak
                                    (Quercus) trees causing a butt and root rot; upper surface yellowish-brown,
                                    becoming dark brown and cracking with age, glabrous, margin same color as
                                    cap or paler when actively growing...........................................Pseudoinonotus dryadeus

                               14. Note: Inonotus and similar species related to Pseudoinonotus will key out here.
                                     They are all members of the Hymenochaetaceae family. Because they can only
                                     be reliably separated from each other using microscopic characters, they are not
                                     included as individual species in the keys. Some of these species, however, are
                                     illustrated in a group I've called ..................................................Inonotus and similar spp.

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This page © 2006 by Gary Emberger, Messiah University