Sulphur shelf
| Laetiporus sulphureus | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Subclass: | Agaricomycetidae |
| Order: | Polyporales |
| Family: | Polyporaceae |
| Genus: | Laetiporus |
| Species: | L. sulphureus |
| Binomial name | |
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Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Murrill (1920) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Species synonymy
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| Laetiporus sulphureus | |
|---|---|
| Mycological characteristics | |
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pores on hymenium |
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cap is flat |
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hymenium attachment is irregular or not applicable |
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lacks a stipe |
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spore print is white |
 
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ecology is saprotrophic or parasitic |
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edibility: choice |
ecology is saprotrophic
Laetiporus sulphureus is a species of bracket fungus (fungi that grow on trees) found in Europe and North America. Its common names are crab-of-the-woods, sulphur polypore, sulphur shelf, and chicken-of-the-woods. Its fruit bodies grow as striking golden-yellow shelf-like structures on tree trunks and branches. Old fruitbodies fade to pale beige or pale grey. The undersurface of the fruit body is made up of tubelike pores rather than gills.
Laetiporus sulphureus is a saprophyte and occasionally a weak parasite, causing brown cubical rot in the heartwood of trees on which it grows. Unlike many bracket fungi, it is edible when young, although adverse reactions have been reported.
Laetiporus sulphureus was first described as Boletus sulphureus by French mycologist Pierre Bulliard in 1789. It has had many synonyms and was finally given its current name in 1920 by American mycologist William Murrill. Laetiporus means "with bright pores" and sulphureus means the colour of sulphur.
Investigations in North America have shown that there are several similar species within what has been considered L. sulphureus, and that the true L. sulphureus may be restricted to regions east of the Rocky Mountains.Phylogenetic analyses of ITS, nuclear large subunit and mitochondrial small subunit rDNA sequences from North American collections have delineated five distinct clades within the core Laetiporus clade:
The cap is attached directly to the trunk of a tree and is initially knob-shaped, but soon expands to fan-shaped, typically growing in overlapping tiers. It is sulphur-yellow to bright orange in colour and has a suedelike texture. Old fruitbodies fade to tan or whitish. Each shelve may be anywhere from 5 to 60 cm (2 to 23.5 in) in diameter and 4 cm (1.5 in) thick. The fertile surface is sulphur-yellow with small pores or tubes and has a white spore print. When fresh, the flesh is succulent and exudes a yellowish juice, but soon becomes dry and brittle. It has a strong, fungusy smell.
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Wikipedia