POLYPORALES

the large pore fungus order of fungi (division Mycota) within the class Basidiomycetes. (It is sometimes relegated to family rank, Polyporaceae, in the order Agaricales.) The 1,000 known species have conspicuous sporophores (fruiting bodies), sometimes mushroomlike, the spore-bearing layer (hymenium) appearing either tube-shaped, gill-like, rough, smooth, or convoluted. Many species are found on the ground or on decaying wood. Some species are edible; others cause diseases of trees. The order includes the coral (club) fungi (Clavariaceae), shelf, or bracket, fungi (Polyporaceae), and the cantharelles (Cantharellaceae). About 500 widely distributed species of coral fungi are known. They are edible, but not delectable, and have an upright growth habit with branches. Coral fungi are found mostly in late summer and autumn on soil or decaying wood. Representative genera include Clavaria (25 species), Pistillaria (50 species), Pterula (50 species), Rumaria, and Typhula (40 species). Shelf, or bracket, fungi produce a shelf-like fruiting structure on many trees. They cause decay of birch and other hardwoods and of structural timbers (certain Poria species); conifer rot, heart rot, and root rot of rubber plants (Fomes); wood decay and root rot of cacao, coffee, rubber, and other trees (Ganoderma); and diseases of birch and conifers (Polyporus). The white undersurface of artist's fungus (Fomes applanatus), which darkens when cut, has been used for etching. The inedible birch fungus Polyporus betulinus causes decay on birch trees in the northern United States. Dryad's saddle (P. squamosus) produces a fan- or saddle-shaped mushroom. It is light coloured with dark scales, has a strong odour, and grows on many deciduous trees. The edible hen of the woods (P. frondosus), which grows on old trees and stumps, produces a cluster of grayish mushrooms with two or three caps on a stalk; the undersides of the caps are porous. The sulfur mushroom, P. (Laetiporus) sulphureus, a common, shelf-like fungus that grows on dead wood, derives its name from its sulfur-yellow colour; only the younger portions of the fruiting body are edible. The hedgehog fungus is the common name for species of the genera Dentinum (Hydnum) and Hericium. Hydnum repandum, an edible, whitish mushroom with toothlike structures hanging from the cap, occurs on decaying organic matter in autumn. The horn of plenty (Craterellus cornucopioides), also called the trumpet of death, is a member of the family Cantharellaceae. Common in the woods in late summer, it is edible when young and turns black with age and when cooked. Another cantharelle, the chanterelle (Cantharellus cibarius), an edible mushroom yellow-orange in colour and with a pleasant odour, is found in woods during summer and autumn. The genus Schizophyllum of the family Schizophyllaceae consists of five species. S. commune is a very common and widespread whitish mushroom that grows on decaying wood. The cap has split edges. Sponge fungus is the common name for five species of the genus Sparassis (family Sparassidaceae). S. crispa and S. radicata produce at the base of trees in autumn a large (up to 20 kilograms, or about 44 pounds), edible fruiting body like a gray to buff cluster of lettuce. Beefsteak fungus (Fistulina hepatica) of the family Fistulinaceae is an edible species found on oaks and other trees in the autumn. Its name derives from its colour, which resembles that of raw beef. It causes a stain on oaks called brown oak.