Polyporus varius

[ Basidiomycetes > Polyporales > Polyporaceae > Polyporus . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Typically fruiting on smaller hardwood sticks and decaying branches, this polypore is easily recognized by its fairly small size, its whitish pore surface, and its black, or half-black, central stem. It is widely distributed across North America, and appears to vary somewhat in the color and texture of its cap. Like many polypores it is rather tough, and can manage to "stay up" for quite a while in dry weather--resulting in older specimens with faded, nearly white caps and sordid brownish pore surfaces.

Polyporus varius is probably edible--but so are your shoes, and they are likely to make an equally pleasant culinary experience.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic on decaying hardwood sticks and small logs (rarely on conifer debris); causing a white rot; growing scattered or alone; summer and fall, or year-round in warmer climates; widely distributed.

Cap: 2-10 cm; broadly convex to flat; round in outline, or kidney-shaped; dry; smooth or finely fibrous; sometimes radially lined; tan, cinnamon tan, or paler; the margin frequently wavy.

Pore Surface: White when young, becoming dingy brownish in age; running down the stem; 4-6 angular pores per mm; tubes to 3 mm deep.

Stem: Central or off-center to lateral; .5-7 cm long; 2-10 mm wide; equal; often curving; dry; smooth or finely velvety; pale tan at the apex but black below (at least at the base, and usually for half or more of the stem's height); tough.

Flesh: Whitish to dingy brownish or cinnamon; thin; very tough.

Microscopic Features: Spores 7-10 x 2-3.5 µ; smooth; cylindrical to sausage-shaped.

Polyporus elegans is a synonym; the name was formerly applied to a mushroom slightly larger than Polyporus varius as originally described, and with a (sometimes) radially streaked cap. See Overholts (1953) or Gilbertson & Ryvarden (1987) for a full account of the difference--though even Overholts admits that "P. elegans and P. varius differ but little, except in size" (264). More recently, studies by Nuņez & Ryvarden (1995) and Krueger (2002) have synonymized the species.

REFERENCES: Fries, 1821. (Overholts, 1953; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Arora, 1986; Gilbertson & Ryvarden, 1987; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Barron, 1999.) Herb. Kuo 07010307.

Further Online Information:

Polyporus elegans at MykoWeb
Polyporus varius at Roger's Mushrooms
Polyporus varius at Fungi of Poland

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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2004, November). Polyporus varius. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/polyporus_varius.html