Major Groups > Polypores > Trametes villosa

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Trametes villosa

[ Basidiomycetes > Polyporales > Polyporaceae > Trametes . . . ]

by Michael Kuo

Like the "turkey tail," Trametes versicolor, this little polypore is densely hairy, and feels fuzzy if you rub it with the pad of your thumb. Unlike the true turkey tail, however, Trametes villosa is zoned with shades of gray and buff--and its pore surface is composed of fairly large pores (for a Trametes) which, at 1-3 pores per millimeter, don't require old men in denial about bifocals (let's leave them nameless, shall we?) to peer over their glasses in order to see. By maturity the pores often become angular and irregular, or nearly tooth-like and reminiscent of the "dentate" pores of Trichaptum biforme. The large, angular pores help to separate Trametes villosa from Trametes hirsuta, which is often white and gray but has tiny (3 or more per mm) pores that do not become tooth-like.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic on the deadwood of hardwoods and conifers (especially eastern red cedar); annual; causing a white rot; growing in clusters on logs and stumps; summer and fall; widely distributed in southeastern North America.

Cap: Up to 7 cm across and 3 mm thick; semicircular, irregularly bracket-shaped, or kidney-shaped; often fused laterally with other caps; very densely hairy; with concentric zones of texture; zones with whitish and grayish shades.

Pore Surface: Whitish, becoming a little brownish with age; with 1-3 angular pores per mm; pores becoming elongated with maturity and often approaching a tooth-like condition; tubes to 1 mm deep.

Flesh: Insubstantial; whitish; tough and corky.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Spore Print: White.

Microscopic Features: Spores 5.5-8.5 x 2.5-3.5 µ; smooth; cylindric. Cystidia absent. Hyphal system trimitic.


REFERENCES: (Swartz, 1806) Kriesel, 1971. (Fries, 1821; Saccardo, 1888; Overholts, 1953; Gilbertson & Ryvarden, 1987.) Herb. Kuo 10220405.


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Trametes villosa

Trametes villosa

Trametes villosa



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Cite this page as:

Kuo, M. (2005, March). Trametes villosa. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trametes_villosa.html