Globifomes graveolens

Scientific name:   Globifomes graveolens (Schwein.)
Murrill
Derivation of name:   Globifomes means "Fomes with
globular or spherical fruiting bodies." Fomes means "tinder."
Graveolens means "strong smelling."
Synonymy:   Polyporus graveolens (Schw.) Fries, Boletus
graveolens Schw.
Common names:  Sweet knot.
Phylum:   Basidiomycota
Order:   Polyporales
Family:   Polyporaceae
Occurrence on wood substrate: Saprobic and parasitic;
solitary or in groups on trunks and logs of deciduous trees,
especially oak (Quercus); July through October, overwinters.  
Dimensions: Individual caps 1-2 cm wide; entire mass of
small, overlapping caps may be 5-20 cm wide.   
Upper surface:  Individual caps are gray to pale yellowish-
brown with whitish margins when young, then rust- to
cinnamon brown, and aging dark brown to grayish-black.
Pore surface: Gray at first, becoming brownish; pores 3-4
per mm.
Comments:  Despite the specific epithet graveolens, given
to describe a strong, sweet odor associated with the cut
flesh of this fungus, such an odor is apparently quite
uncommon.

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Figure 1. A tree with a number of young specimens of
Globifomes graveolens. The tree is growing in the Weiser
State Forest Haldeman Tract in PA near the Minnich Hit
Picnic Area. Photo © Gary Emberger.


Figure 2. A closer view of the specimens in Figure 1.
Photo © Gary Emberger.

Figure 3. Globifomes graveolens consists of many, small,
overlapping caps, whitish in color when young.
Photo © Gary Emberger.

Figure 4. Pores develop under each cap.
Photo © Gary Emberger.


Figure 5. The pores are gray at first but will become brownish
with age. Photo © Gary Emberger.

Figure 6. A vertical array of Globifomes graveolens fruit
bodies growing from a living American beech tree (Fagus
grandifolia).
Photo © Craig Errington.

Figure 7. A beautiful mature specimen of Globifomes
graveolens with rust- to cinnamon-brown colored caps.
Photo © William Padilla Brown.

Figure 8. Globifomes graveolens ages to a dark brown to
grayish-black color.
Photo © John Plischke III.

Figure 9. The stipe-less caps are attached to the substrate
via a solid, common core of fungus tissue. The many small
caps are sometimes referred to as flabellae where
flabellum means "small fan" in Latin.
Photo © Larry Grand.