POLYPORUS TALPAE (Fig. 360). Dimensions: Circumfer- 

 ence, 230 centimeters (7 2-3 feet) ; greatest breadth, 70 centimeters 

 (z l /2 feet) ; weight, dry, 9 1-3 kilograms (20 Ibs. 6 oz.). It must have 

 weighed more than fifty pounds when it was fresh. The specimen 

 came from Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana. Polyporus talpae was orig- 

 inally sent to Europe by Glaziou, from Brazil. It belongs in the section 

 Merisma with Polyporus giganteus of Europe, which is a pigmy com- 

 pared to this plant. The surface is dull, minutely velutinate, and is 

 soft to the touch, and the name, referring to a mole skin, is not bad. 

 The context is pale, and the pores small and cinereous in the dried 

 specimen. The spores are hyaline, 33 globose, 8 mic., and minutely 

 rough. In its habits of growth and general appearance the plant is 

 close to Polyporus Berkeleyi, of the United States, and the spores also 

 indicate a relationship. 



FOMES PACHYPHLOEUS (Fig. 361 ) .Dimensions : Great- 

 est breadth, 150 centimeters (5 feet) ; thickness, 20 centimeters (8 

 inches) ; weight, 2oj4 kilograms (44^/2 Ibs.). The specimen reached 

 the Rijks Herbarium from Java. 



Fomes pachyphloeus was described by Bresadola from Africa, 

 and this Javanese specimen has been determined by him. It has fer- 

 ruginous context and abundant, colored setae on the hymenium. The 

 spores (teste Bresadola) are globose, 3-5 mic., pale yellow. The plant 

 would therefore come in the same section as Fomes Everhartii, which 

 grows on the oak in the United States. 



OTHER LARGE POLYPOROIDS. 



POLYPORUS BERKELEYI (Figs. 362 and 363). This is the 

 largest Polyporus that we have in the United States, and I have seen 

 specimens two and a half feet across the pileus. We have a specimen 

 in our museum from E. B. Sterling, Trenton, New Jersey, of the fol- 

 lowing dimensions when fresh : 



Circumference, 8 feet 9 inches. 

 Length, 3 feet. 

 Width, 2 feet 2^ inches. 

 Height, i foot I inch. 

 Weight, 43 Ibs. 



It usually grows at the base of a stump or tree, and our figure (362) 

 will give a good idea of its habits as well as size on comparison with 

 the tree behind it. The pileus consists of a number of imbricate pile- 

 oli arising from a short, thick stem or root stock. The surface is pale, 

 dull, slightly tomentose, and obscurely zoned. The flesh, from one- 

 half an inch to an inch thick, is white, becoming wood color in old 

 specimens. When dry it is brittle. The pores are large, unequal, white, 



33 They were described as "fulvis" by Hennings, but I am sure they are hyaline in his 

 specimen. Glaziou also sent this same plant to Berlin, which Hennings discovered was a 

 "new species" and sent a description to Saccardo. He called it "Polyporus Glaziovii," hut 

 Cooke "saw it first." 



36 



