S6 



MINNESOTA MUSHROOMS 



PORE FUNGI POLYPORACEAE 



^[any of these resemble the gill fungi m form, but they are distinguished by 

 ha\-ing the spores borne in tubes or pits, opening bv pores, rather than on gills. They 

 are often bracket-like or shelf-like, and in some forms are mere layers of pores en- 

 ■crusting twigs. In texture, they range from tleshv. as in Boletus, to tough, 

 leathery, papery and woody. The family includes the great majority of the shelf 

 fungi found on stumps and trunks. The fleshy species are usually edible, but some 

 of them are reputed to be poisonous. 



KEY TO THE GENERA 



1. Cap fleshv. soft, decaying readily 



a. Stem central 



( 1 ) Cap shaggy with large scales 

 ( 2 ) Cap smooth or scaly, not shaggy 



b. -Stem excentric or lateral in our species 



( 1 ') Tubes free but touching each other 

 (2) Tubes united to each other 



2. Cap tough-fleshy, leathery, papery or woody, not de- 



caving readily 

 a. Tubes with pore-like openings 



(' 1 ) Tubes in several layers ; cap woody, perennial 



( 2 ) Tubes in a single layer ; cap tough-fleshy to 



leathery 

 (a) Cap thick, tough-fleshy to leathery 

 fb) Cap thin, leathery or papery 

 h. Tubes angled or oblong, not pore-like, often gill- 

 like 

 ( 1 ) Tubes angled, in radiating rows 

 ( 2 ) Tubes gill-like, radiating 



(3) Tubes Ldll-like. concentric 



Strobilomyces 

 Boletus 



Fistulina 

 Boletinus 



Fomes 



Polyporus 

 Polystictus 



86 

 87 



92 

 92 



93 



95 

 99 



.Si'KOI'.ILUMYCES 



Cap fleshy, with large scales, the stem central. Closely related to B o 1 e t u s. 

 hut distinguished bv the conspicuous scales, and the greater difficultv with which the 

 layer of tubes separates from the flesh of the cap. The name refers to the char- 

 acteristic tliatch of scales. 



Strobilomyces strobilaceus Pore Cone 



Cap 5-10 cm, wide, densely covered with large, hairy, black-brown or blackish 

 scales, which prtiject beyond the margin as a curtain, hemispheric or bell-shaped to 

 convex : flesh whitish, changing to reddish and blackish when bruised ; stem 7-12 

 cm. bv 1-2 cm,, blackish, scaly-hairy, solid: tubes adnate. whitish, then brownish 



