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The Genus Phylloporus  

[ Basidiomycetes > Boletales > Boletacaceae . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

This is a small genus of rather odd mushrooms. At a glance, they look for all the world like boletes. But turn them over and you'll find gills where you expected pores. The similarity to boletes continues under the microscope; the spores in this genus look rather like the spores of boletes. Some Phylloporus species even bruise blue, like some boletes. As you might imagine, the fact that Phylloporus species look like boletes with gills has led to considerable debate about where they belong in the grand scheme of Mushroom Things. The most recent evidence, from DNA studies, places species of Phylloporus with the boletes.



Key to Phylloporus in North America


1.Growing under pine in sand dunes on the West Coast; gills well developed, typically attached to the stem but receding from it (rarely running slightly down the length of the stem), not bruising.

1.Not completely as above.
2


2.Gills poorly developed, often boletinoid, sometimes bruising strongly blue or, more frequently, not bruising or bruising weakly; eastern North America.
Phylloporus boletinoides

2.Gills well developed, not boletinoid, bruising or not; variously distributed.
3


3.Gills bruising blue.
Phylloporus rhodoxanthus ssp. foliiporus

3.Gills not bruising blue.
4


4.Gills merely attached to the stem or only slightly running down it; spores 10-15 x 3.5-5 µ; common in Europe, present in North America according to Breitenbach & Kränzlin (1991).
Phylloporus pelletieri

4.Not completely as above.
5


5.Basal mycelium white; apparently limited to eastern North America.
Phylloporus leucomycelinus

5.Basal mycelium yellow; widely distributed in North America.



References

Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms demystified: A comprehensive guide to the fleshy fungi. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press. 959 pp.

Breitenbach, J. & Kränzlin, F. (1991). Fungi of Switzerland, Vol. 3. Lucerne: Sticher Printing. 359 pp.

Bessette, A. E., Roody, W. C. & Bessette, A. R. (2000). North American boletes: A color guide to the fleshy pored mushrooms. China: Syracuse UP. 399 pp.

Smith, A. H. & Trappe, J. M. (1972). The higher fungi of Oregon’s Cascade Head Experimental Forest and vicinity - I. The genus Phaeocollybia (Agaricales) and notes and descriptions of other species in the Agaricales. Mycologia 64: 1138-1153.

Smith, A. H., Smith, H. V. & Weber, N. S. (1979). How to know the gilled mushrooms. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown. 334 pp.

Snell, W. H. & Dick, E. A. (1970). The boleti of northeastern North America. Germany: J. Cramer. 115 pp.



Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (20035 March). The genus Phylloporus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/phylloporus.html

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