600 MuRRiLL : The Polyporaceae of North America 



the genus Poly poms 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 1 85 I, Fries tried the experiment of breaking 

 Polyporus up into Forties, Polystictus, and Poria, a division which, 

 though discontinued in his later works was resurrected by Cooke in 

 his Praeciirsores 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 Ganodcrnia, 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. Spo- 

 rerna aggrunda eller elliptiska, vartiga, gulbrunaktiga." Although 

 no mention is here made of the laccate pileus and stipe, no 

 other species are included with G. lucidum in the genus. As 

 a synonym of Ganoderma, Karsten here mentions Placodes Quel., 

 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. lucidus in one 

 of the subdivisions are placed also P. dryadeus, P. resinosus, P. 

 erubescens, and P. helveolus. 



The transfer of G. lucidum from Ganoderma Karst. to Phaeoporus 

 Schroet. m 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 Quelet, 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 the 

 genus mycologists appear to be divided. The following synopsis 

 includes only those species which, while essentially alike in internal 

 structure, possess a shining varnished surface produced by the 

 exudation and hardening of a reddish juice similar to that found in 

 G. pscudoboletus. 



