GILL FUNGI 49. 



PANUS 



Related to Lentinus very closely, and to be separated from it only by the 

 entire edge of the gills. It is doubtful that the two should be maintained as separate 

 genera, but this is the usual practise. Certain species, though leathery, are edible ; 

 others are very astringent in taste, and correspondingly unpleasant, though not known 

 to be poisonous. The ancient name of a fungus. 



Key to the Species 



1. Stem excentric; taste not astringent 



a. Cap and stem densely hairy P. suigosus 



b. Cap not hairy but slightly scaly P. conchahis 



2. Stem entirely lateral; taste very biting P. stypticiis 



Panus strigosus Hairy Panus 



Cap large, 10-25 cm. wide, white or whitish, covered with dense coarse hairs, 

 more or less broadly and irregularly funnel- form ; stem short and thick, 4-7 cm, 

 by 2-3 cm., densely hairy, whitish; gills decurrent, yellowish, broad and distant. 

 The name refers to the hairy cap. 



Often in dense clusters on trunks and stumps, in late summer and autumn; 

 edible when young. 



Panus conchatus Shell Panus 



Cap medium, 4-7 cm. wide, cinnamon, often paler, smooth or scaly, excentric 

 and irregular to shelf-like; stem 2-3 cm. by 1 cm., pale, hairy at the base, solid; 

 gills decurrent into lines on the stem, whitish to yellow. The name refers to the 

 shell-like form. 



On trunks and stumps, in autumn ; edible. 



Panus stypticus Bitter Panus 



Cap small, 2-4 cm. wide, cinnamon or paler, more or less roughened w'ith bran- 

 like scales, kidney-shaped or irregularly shelf-like ; stem short, 2-3 cm. lateral, 

 brownish or brown, solid ; gills not decurrent, cinnamon, connected by veins, nar- 

 row and crowded; spores globoid, 2-4 X l-3;u,. The name refers to the astringent 

 taste. 



Common on stumps, more or less throughout the year ; very unpleasant to the 

 taste 



LEXZITES 



Characterized by being shelf- or bracket-like in form, the texture corky, and 

 the gills more or less repeatedly branched. Its closest relative is Daedalea among 

 the pore-fungi ; certain forms must be sought in both genera. None of the species 

 are edible. Named for the botanist Lenz. 



