THE TUBE-BBARING FUNGI 401 



irregular, hairy-tomentose to setose-hispid, grayish-tawny, or ferruginous, the 

 margin subacute, sterile, the substance within tawny-ferruginous, somewhat 

 zonate. 



The pores are two to three lines long, unequal, angular, the dissepiments 

 becoming brownish-ferruginous with age or where bruised. The spores are 

 ferruginous, broadly elliptical, .00024 to -0003 inch long and about .0002 broad. 

 Peck. 



Figure 330. Polyporus perplexus. Two-thirds natural size. 



This is ver> r abundant on beech logs, growing quite large, massive, imbri- 

 cated, and confluent, the pileoli being often two to four inches broad. It is very 

 closely related to P. cuticularis and P. hispidus. It can be easily distinguished 

 from P. cuticularis by means of its straight margin, and from P. hispidus by its 

 small size and smaller pores. Found from September to November. 



Polyporus hispidus. Fr. 



Pileus is very large, eight to ten inches broad and three to four inches thick, 

 compact, spongy, fleshy but fibrous, dimidiate, with occasionally a very short 

 stem ; generally very hairy, but sometimes smooth ; the pileus is often marked 

 with concentric lines which seem to indicate arrested vegetation ; brown, blackish, 

 yellowish or reddish brown, below pale-yellow or rich sienna-brown, margin paler. 



The pores are minute, round, inclined to separate, fringed, paler. The spores 

 are yellowish, apiculate, 10x7^. Often found on living trees, the plant gains 

 entrance to the living stem through the bark, by means of a wound made by 

 some agency, as a bird or a boring insect; soon a mass of mycelium is formed, 

 and from this the fruiting body is produced. 



