Key to Gilled Mushrooms KeyThis is a key to gilled mushrooms, that is, mushrooms having a definite cap with a fertile surface consisting of gills. The fruiting body usually also has a stem, although that may be lateral or absent (usually, then, the mushroom is growing from wood). You can use this key to identify mushrooms that you find.
Polyporaceae FamilyFertile surface usually a layer of vertical tubes, of which the mouths are visible as pores on the underside of the cap or shelf.
Fruiting bodies usually tougher or harder than the "normal" gilled mushrooms, being leathery, corky, or woody. But they can be quite tender while actively growing
Once grown, they do not decay easily, remaining on the substrate for months or years
They often grow on wood, although a few are terrestrial (even those are usually growing on buried wood)
Fruiting body is usually a flat shelf, or hoof-shaped, protruding directly from the substrate, although sometimes it may have a short stalk.
Some forms never grow away from the substrate at all, so that all that is visible of the fruiting body are the pores.
Sometimes the pores are so minute that the fertile surface seems solid, until you look closely
Lignicopolypore SubfamilyGrowing on wood
Stipitoporus Tribe
Diagnosis
- Not fitting the other choices, fruiting body with well-developed stem
Narrow down your identification:
Favolus Genus- Large, angular pores
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Flexible, fairly soft fruiting body
Ganoderma Genus- Either cap shiny reddish brown (as if varnished), or dull brown with a white pore surface that turns brown when scratched
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Cap often with a white margin.
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Pores minute (4-7 per mm), almost too small to see.
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Spores reddish-brown.
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Causes a white rot
Osteina Genus
Polyporus Genus- Cap lacking hard crusty upper surface or large, angular pores
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Fruiting body flexible if it's not really thick
