600 Murritt: THE Po_yporACEAE OF NorTH AMERICA 
the genus Polyporus as early as 1729. Polyporus was used by 
Persoon in his Synopsis only as a subgenus under Boletus, from 
which position it was later raised by Fries to equal rank — 
with Boletus and made to include the woody forms of pore- 
bearing fungi. In 1851, Fries tried the experiment of breaking 
Polyporus wp into Fomes, Polystictus, and Poria, a division which, 
though discontinued in his later works was resurrected by Cooke in 
his Praecursores in 1885 and adopted by Saccardo and others since. 
When a systematic arrangement of the Polyporaceae of Fin- 
land was undertaken by Karsten (Rev. Mycol. 1881), one of the 
new genera established was Ganoderma, which was based upon 
the laccate character of pileus and stipe and embraced Polyporus 
lucidus only. In Karsten’s “ Finlands Basidsvampar ” published 
in 1889, Ganoderma is characterized as follows : ‘‘ Basiderna 4- 
sporiga, n. klotrunda, cystiderna icke anmarknings varda. 5p0- 
rerna aggrunda eller elliptiska, vartiga, gulbrunaktiga.”’ Although 
no mention is here made of the laccate pileus and stipe, N° 
other species are included with G. /ucidum in the genus. As 
am synonym of Ganoderma, Karsten here mentions Placodes Quél., 
which genus was erected in 1886 to include a variety of forms 
which were “covered with a hard crust, without zones or concen- 
trically sulcate, persistent, woody.” Along with P. luctdus in one 
of the subdivisions are placed also P. dryadeus, P. resinosus, P. 
erubescens, and P. helveolus, 
The transfer of G. Jucidum from Ganoderma Karst. to Phaeoports 
Schroet. in Schroeter’s flora of Silesia was a violation of modern 
principles and consequently could not meet with general favor. In 
1887, Patouillard, following the lead of Quélet, extended the range 
of Ganoderma to include all forms of Polyporaceae with colored 
spores, adhering tubes and shining crusted pilei ; and in 1889 he 
published a partial monograph of the genus as extended, listing 
forty-eight species, which were arranged in subgroups upon spore 
characters, As to the wisdom of so broad a treatment of we 
genus mycologists appear to be divided. The following synoPs” 
includes only those species which, while essentially alike in interna 
structure, possess a shining varnished surface produced by 
exudation and hardening of a reddish juice similar to that found 
G. pseudoboletus, 
