Fomitopsis pinicola
| Fomitopsis pinicola | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Polyporales |
| Family: | Fomitopsidaceae |
| Genus: | Fomitopsis |
| Species: | F. pinicola |
| Binomial name | |
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Fomitopsis pinicola (Sw.) P.Karst. (1881) |
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| Synonyms | |
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| Fomitopsis pinicola | |
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| Mycological characteristics | |
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pores on hymenium |
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no distinct cap |
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hymenium is decurrent |
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lacks a stipe |
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spore print is yellow |
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ecology is saprotrophic |
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edibility: inedible |
Fomitopsis pinicola, is a stem decay fungus. Its conk (fruit body) is known as the red belt conk. The species is common throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere. It is a decay fungus that serves as a small-scale disturbance agent in coastal rainforest ecosystems. It influences stand structure and succession in temperate rainforests. It performs essential nutrient cycling functions in forests.
Cap is hoof-shaped or triangular, hard and tough texture, up to 30–40 x 25 x 10 cm. Its surface is more or less smooth, at first orange-yellow with a white margin, later dark reddish to brown and then frequently with orange margin. The pore surface is pale yellow to leather-brown, 3–4 pores per mm. It grows as thick shelves on live and dead coniferous or (less common) deciduous trees.
The fruiting body of Fomitopsis pinicola is called the conk. It is a woody, pileate fruiting body with pores lined with basidia on its underside. As in other polypores, the fruiting body is perennial with a new layer of pores produced each year on the bottom of the old pores. The pores are whitish when young and become somewhat brownish in age. This mushroom is inedible due to its woody texture, but it is useful as tinder.
Most of the stem decay (heart rot) in mature forests that results from this fungus does not interfere with the normal growth and physiological processes of live trees since the vascular system is not affected. It is classified as a brown rot, which primarily degrades cellulose in tree stands. Wood impacted by this fungus may become more brittle and prone to breakage in high winds, and cannot be used for pulp production. This species requires exposed wood of wounds for entry, and continue their decay after the tree dies.
The fruiting bodies of the fungus disperse airborne spores, but the actual degradation of the wood is by the threadlike vegetative part of the fungus inside the trees. The fungus can occur anywhere on roots or the stem, but is most common low on the bole, where frequent wounds promote infection.
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Wikipedia