Major Groups > Polypores > Bjerkandera adusta

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Bjerkandera adusta

[ Basidiomycetes > Polyporales > Hapalopilaceae > Bjerkandera . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

It oughta be Björk-andera, so that at least one mushroom genus would be named after an Icelandic pop star from the nineties--instead of yet another frumpy Swedish scientist from the 18th Century. Whatever. They don't listen to me in Taxonomy Land.

This interesting polypore has a striking, dark gray to black pore surface that contrasts with its pale cap surface. It is a common decomposer of the deadwood of hardwoods, widely distributed across the continent.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic on the deadwood of hardwoods and, rarely, conifers; causing a white rot; annual; appearing year-round; widely distributed throughout North America.

Cap: Bracket-like to shelf-like (and usually fused laterally with other caps), or merely a turned-over edge above a spreading pore surface--or occasionally lacking entirely; semicircular to irregular in outline; convex to flat; to about 10 cm wide and 6 cm deep; velvety to finely hairy, becoming bald with maturity; whitish to grayish, tan, or brownish; sometimes zoned; when mature with a brown to black margin.

Pore Surface: Gray to black; sometimes bruising darker black; with 6-7 tiny, angular pores per mm; tubes to 2 mm deep.

Stem: Absent.

Flesh: Whitish to faintly brownish; tough and corky or leathery.

Odor and Taste: Odor fragrant, or not distinctive. Taste sour, or not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on all surfaces.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 4-6 x 2.5-3.5 µ; smooth; elliptical; inamyloid; hyaline in KOH. Setae absent. Cystidia absent. Hyphal system monomitic; hyphae with abundant clamp connections.


REFERENCES: (Willdenow, 1787) Karsten, 1879. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo, 1888; Overholts, 1953; Arora, 1986; Gilbertson & Ryvarden, 1987; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Barron, 1999; McNeil, 2006; Binion et al., 2008; Trudell & Ammirati, 2009.) Herb. Kuo 03210701, 07130807.


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Bjerkandera adusta

Bjerkandera adusta

Bjerkandera adusta

Bjerkandera adusta

Bjerkandera adusta

Bjerkandera adusta



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2010, February). Bjerkandera adusta. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/bjerkandera_adusta.html