Porodaedalea piceina

Porodaedalea piceina

Porodaedalea piceina is a fungus in the Hymenochaetaceae family. Typical characteristics are its brown colour, woody consistency, small pores and growth on conifers.
Pine Bracket This bracket fungus had a soft, orange-tan pore surface. The upper surface appeared to be brown and very woody, but it was 6 feet up the tree and I couldn't see the top. It was a very tough and impressively strong fungus. I actually held onto each end of it with my hands and dangled off the fungus, trying to pull at least some of it off the tree, but it wouldn't budge - even with all of my body weight hanging off of it!  This fungus is a plant pathogen, which causes extensive white rot, making the wood useless as timber. It is one of the most harmful decaying agents of coniferous trees in this area. However, it is also an important forest disturbance agent because it plays a crucial role in the formation of habitat for numerous forest animals.  Geotagged,Pine Bracket,Porodaedalea piceina,United States,Winter,fungi,fungus

Appearance

Perennial; pileate or effused-reflexed, imbricate, caps semi-circulate or elongated along fallen trunk, hard, 1.5-5 cm wide, projecting 1-3.5 cm. Surface brown, zonate, some zones with short stiff hairs; margin acute, golden brown. Pore surface concave, cinnamon or golden brown; pores round or angular, regular, (2-)3-5(-6) per mm. Dimitic; generative hyphae simple-septate and hyaline; skeletal hyphae brown; embedded setaelanceolate, 35-65 × 4.5-10 µm, scattered in dissepiment trama; hymenial setae stout, with strong and blunt apex, (29-)33-41(-50) x (5.5-)8-10 µm, common; spores ellipsoid, with slightly thickened walls, (4.5-)5-5.5(-6) x (3.6-)4-4.7 µm, IKI-, CB+.

References:

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http://mushroomobserver.org/name/show_name_description/6245
Taxonomy
KingdomFungi
DivisionBasidiomycota
ClassAgaricomycetes
OrderHymenochaetales
FamilyHymenochaetaceae
GenusPorodaedalea
SpeciesPorodaedalea piceina