It is easiest to identify this mushroom when it is growing
I took this photo of a mustard yellow polypore mushroom while hiking at Eagle Creek Park in Indiana. I was letting Landon, my dog, guide me along the trail and allowing him to stop and sniff where he pleased. As he was investigating a particularly odiferous pile of leaves, I took a moment to photograph this stack of mushrooms that was growing on a tree.
The mustard yellow polypore mushroom is widely distributed across the hardwood forests of North America. It is easiest to identify this mushroom when it is growing, as this one must have been. This is due to the fact that the margin, or part of the mushroom that is most recently grown, is tallow in color. This is in difference to the rest of the mushroom cap which tends to be reddish brown. This mushroom species can grow caps that are as big as 15 cm across. They tend to be semicircular in shape and bracket or kidney in form. They do not have a stem. When you examine the flesh of the mushroom, you will find that it is bright yellowish brown to orange-brown, and it will be quite tough.
The mustard yellow polypore belongs to the family Hymenochaetaceae and the order Hymenochaetales. The order contains about 400 species of mushroom. These fungi are common only molecularly, but they do have some morphological characteristics that are similar. They typically have brownish caps that will turn black in alkali. They also have hyphae which lack clamping connections. They also have thick-walled, thorn-shaped cystidia.
The order contains about 400 species of mushroom, including the mustard yellow polypore
Did you know?
- The scientific name for mustard yellow polypore mushrooms is Fuscoporia gilva and Phellinus gilvus. It is also known as the oak conk.
- In traditional Chinese medicine, the mustard yellow polypore is used to treat stomachaches and cancer.
- This species as well as a few others in the Phellinus genus are considered pathogenic and are attributed to losses in forestry plantations.
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