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Ganoderma brownii

by Michael Kuo, 20 May 2024

This brown polypore appears to be limited to the West Coast of North America, where it is found on the living and dead wood of hardwoods. It is a dead ringer for the well-known Ganoderma applanatum, which also occurs on the West Coast, but it can be separated with a microscope: it features larger spores than its look-alike.

Thanks to Mila Visser 't Hooft for collecting, documenting, and preserving Ganoderma brownii for study; her collection is deposited in The Herbarium of Michael Kuo.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic and sometimes parasitic; causing a white rot; growing alone or in groups on the living or dead wood of hardwoods; perennial; found year-round; originally described from California (Murrill 1915); distributed along the West Coast from California to British Columbia. The illustrated and described collection is from California.

Note: Since the illustrated collection consists of a single fruiting body, additional morphological data have been taken from Overholts 1953 and Gilbertson & Ryvarden 1986.

Cap: 10–20 cm across; 7–13 cm deep; more or less semicircular to kidney-shaped in outline; becoming hoof-shaped (side view) with perennial growth; surface dull and rugged, with vague textural zones; bald; pale to medium brown.

Pore Surface:Creamy whitish to faintly yellowish; bruising darker brown; with 4–5 tiny, circular pores per mm; each annual tube layer up to 1.5 cm deep.

Stem: Absent.

Flesh: Up to 4 cm thick; purple-brown; with concentric growth zones.

Odor and Taste: Not distinctive.

Chemical Reactions: KOH instantly black on flesh and tubes.

Spore Print: Brown.

Microscopic Features: Spores 10–12 x 6–8 µm; more or less ellipsoid, with a truncated end; appearing double-walled, with a series of "pillars" between the walls; finely stippled; inamyloid; orangish brown in KOH. Cystidia and setae not found. Hyphal system trimitic. Clamp connections present only on generative hyphae.

REFERENCES: (W. A. Murrill, 1915) R. L. Gilbertson, 1962. (Overheats, 1953; Gilbertson & Ryvarden, 1986; Desjardin, Wood & Stevens, 2015; Siegel & Schwarz, 2016; Ginns, 2017.) Herb. Kuo 01262102.

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Units = millimeters

KOH

Spores

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Kuo, M. (2024, May). Ganoderma brownii. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/ganoderma_brownii.html