Fistulina radicata

[ Basidiomycetes > Agaricales > Fistulinaceae > Fistulina . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Aside from the fact that its tubes are discrete and clearly separated, the rare Fistulina radicata has little in common with Fistulina hepatica, the more well-known representative of the genus, leading some mycologists to create the genus Pseudofistulina for this species.

Fistulina radicata is rarely treated in field guides, and I have only found it once in many years of collecting mushrooms. Its distinguishing features, aside from the separated tubes, include its velvety brownish cap surface, its long and rooting stem, and the peculiar way the white pore surface terminates abruptly at the apex of the stem.

Fistulina radicata is too tough and leathery to consider for the table.

Description:

Ecology: Presumably saprobic on dead trees and stumps of oaks and chestnuts; possibly also parasitic, growing from the roots of apparently living trees (and appearing terrestrial); summer and fall; known from North America east of the Mississippi, and from Central and South America.

Cap: To 20 cm across; sometimes with multiple caps arising from a shared stem; irregularly shaped but typically fan-shaped or kidney-shaped; brown to yellowish brown; velvety; dry; the margin sometimes lobed or wavy; often bent at a sharp angle from the stem and thus reminiscent of the shape of Ganoderma lucidum.

Pore Surface: White, becoming dingy or pinkish in age; terminating abruptly at the apex of the stem; tubes clearly discrete with a hand lens (see illustration); tubes to 5 mm long.

Stem: Lateral; to 15 cm long; rooting and tapering to a basal point; dry; smooth; brownish, pinkish brown, or paler. The color of the stem near the apex reminds me of the liver-hued stem of Xanthoconium separans.

Flesh: White; tough.

Taste: Mild; odor mild.

Chemical Reactions: KOH negative on flesh.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 3-4 x 2-3 µ; smooth; broadly elliptical or nearly round.

REFERENCES: Schweinitz, 1822. (Atkinson, 1901; Lincoff, 1992; Gilbertson & Ryvarden, 1986.) Herb. Kuo 07130402.

Fistulina firma, Fistulina pallida, Fistulina brasiliensis, Pseudofistulina brasiliensis, and Pseudofistulina radicata are synonyms.

DNA research has yet to address the question of whether Fistulina radicata is truly related to Fistulina hepatica, to my knowledge.

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, July). Fistulina radicata. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/fistulina_radicata.html