REPORT OF THE STATE BOTANIST 



301 



Polyporus sulphureus Fr. 



Sulphury Polyporus. 



Plate 37. Figa. 1 to 4. 



Pileus broad, somewhat irregular and wavy, growing in tufts 

 and closely overlapping each other, uneven, reddish or orange 

 color when young and fresh, fading with age, flesh white ; tubes 

 very small, short, sulphur yellow ; spores elliptical, white, .0003 

 in. long. 



The Sulphury polyporus is easily recognized by its clustered 

 mode of growth and its attractive colors. The caps are often 

 five or six inches broad and they closely overlap each other, 

 sometimes forming tufts or clusters of considerable size. Gen- 

 erally the flesh is not more than half an inch thick, white and 

 easily broken. When young it is soft and juicy, and in warm, 

 moist weather it sometimes exudes a yellowish milk or juice if 

 cut or broken. In maturity it is dry and almost friable. The 

 color of the young cap is yellowish red or pale-orange, but the 

 red or orange soon fades to yellow or becomes mingled with 

 yellow. Its color is generally lost in drying. The margin of the 

 growing cap is often beautifully yellow. It is more or less wavy 

 or irregular. 



The tubes are minute and short. They are of a bright sulphur- 

 yellow color, which is more persistent than the red color of the 

 cap. 



There is no stem, but sometimes the cap is prolonged on one 

 side into a stem-like base. 



This species has a wide range and is found in all parts of our 

 State. It grows in woods and in the open country. Its showy 

 clusters are sometimes seen growing from dead spots in the 

 trunks of living standing trees. It is perfectly at home on the 

 dead wood of nearly all kinds of trees. Even fruit trees some- 

 times support it. It may appear at any time from June to Sep- 

 tember, but it delights in showery wet weather. 



A variety sometimes occurs which might well be named variety 

 glomeratus. In it a multitude of small caps are so closely and 

 intimately united that their individuality is lost in the large mass 

 which they form. Irregular and unequal holes or cavities in the 

 general surface of the mass afford opportunity for a partial de- 



