Introduction - click to expand The Hymenochaetales order (and in particular what I am calling the Hymenochaetaceae family) is best known for containing a bunch of conks/polypores (as well as crusts). Three orders contain most polypores: The Polyporales contain most (and probably the best known) polypores, usually with white pores and flesh. The Hymenochaetales (this page) usually have rusty orange brown pores and flesh. They often have setae (microscopic short, thick walled, dark hairs visible with a dissecting scope in some parts of the fruiting body), don't have clamps, and usually have round to elliptical to cylindrical spores. 'Pycnoporus' and Pyconoporellus are bright orange everywhere and in group 1. The Gloeophyllales also have rusty orange brown pores and flesh as well, but never have setae, do have clamps, and have cylindrical spores. Some mushrooms in other orders evolved conks/polypores as well, for instance Agaricales (Fistulina), Russulales (Albatrellaceae, Bondarzewiaceae, Echinodontiaceae), Thelephorales (Boletopsis) Some have split this family into dozens of smaller families (see my discussion on the non-gilled Hymenochaetales page), but the situation is not quite as confusing as it first appears when you hear that or read about the many genera that exist even if you treat it as one big family. The genera can be combined into only a few groups. Typical rusty coloured polypores and crusts. Many of the polypores are artist conks with the pores turning even darker where touched. Phellinus s.l. - Phellinus were those rusty pored and fleshed polypores that are usually perennial and dimitic (tough and often as hard as the wood they grow on from two kinds of hyphae, including skeletal hyphae that make them extra tough). Since they are perennial, if you cut one in half (you'll probably need a saw) you'll see stratifications like "growth rings" in the tube layers (not the flesh: that can have stratifications even in the genera that are annual). Phellinus has now been split into Phellinus, Coniferiporia, Fomitiporia, Fulvifomes, Fuscoporia, Phellinidium, Phellinopsis, Phellopilus, Phylloporia, and Porodaedalea. Inonotus s.l. - Inonotus were those rusty pored and fleshed polypores that are usually annual (homogenous inside without "growth rings") and monomitic (somewhat softer and more succulent flesh). Inonotus has now been split into Inonotius, Inocutis, Inonotopsis, Mensularia, Onnia, and Pseudoinonotus. See the notes under Phellinus s.l. above for the story. Hymenochaete s.l. - rusty coloured crust fungi, either resupinate or reflexed, much like Stereum. This has been split into Hymenochaete and Hydnoporia. Veluticeps in the Gloeophyllales are similar, but with a greyish fertile surface, and those reflexed crusts are more likely to become confluent and cover a larger area with one fruiting body. Coltricia - stemmed rusty pored and fleshed polypores with thinner flesh than Onnia. All the various annual/monomitic and perennial/dimitic genera are scattered throughout the tree, not all in one place (species in this family evolved back and forth between annual/perennial and monomitic/dimitic several times), so the options were to consider almost the entire family one genus, or to split Phellinus and Inonotus into 16 or more genera. It's unfortunate that many of the genera are very difficult to tell apart, but that's why they had to be split. Other unique genera Bridgeoporus - one of our largest polypores, rare and up to 1 metre across, white pores and flesh with a pale fuzzy carpet on the cap often covered in algae. Trichaptum - leathery and resupinate or with reflexed caps with purple pores when young. Not yet covered: Rigidoporus (=Oxyporus) - white poroid crusts or in one case a conk with whitish pores and flesh. Not yet covered. Xylodon (=Schizopora) - white crusts with maze-like or, when tattered, tooth-like pores. Not yet covered. abundant common uncommon rare - colour codes match my Pictorial Key and are my opinions and probably reflect my bias of living in W WA. Rare species may be locally common in certain places at certain times.

Phellinus s.l. (Coniferiporia, Fomitiporia, Fulvifomes, Fuscoporia, Phellinidium, Phellinopsis, Phellopilus, Phylloporia, Porodaedalea) - click to expand These rusty brown pored and fleshed polypores are usually dimitic (as hard as wood) and perennial (showing "growth rings" in the tube layers when cut in half). Many are artist conks, with the pores darkening even more where touched. Many genera can attack the heartwood of living trees and thus can be parasitic. Species mentioned: Coniferiporia sulphurascens, weirii. Fomitiporia fissurata, punctata, repanda, robusta, tsugina. Fulvifomes robiniae. Fuscoporia ferrea, ferruginosa, gilva, viticola. Phellinidium ferrugineofuscum. Phellinopsis conchata, overholtsii. Phellinus alni, arctostaphyli, betulinus, everhartii, igniarius, laevigatus, lundellii, nigricans, pomaceoides, pomaceus, prunicola, tremulae. Phellophilus nigrolimitatus. Phylloporia ribis. Porodaedalea cancriformans, chrysoloma, gilbertsonii, piceina, pini. Tropicoporus.   Phellinus arctostaphyli AZ - best recognized when it's growing on manzanita (but it doesn't always). We have OR and CA sequences that most probably represent this, matching AZ sequences except for in a few ambiguous locations and one copy of a long indel. Phellinus everhartii NJ - an oak species, like Fomitipora fissurata. I can't confirm that this is in the correct genus, as it's rather distant from all other speciees. We have 2 ENA sequences that likely represent this, but no local collections yet. Phellinus igniarius EU - all reports of this in NA have turned out to be something else, and it has never been proven to exist outside of Europe (and rarely Asia). If you think you actually find it, save it. In particular, we need collections on willow to see what they are. Phellinus nigricans PNW04 - on birch. There are 4 clades of this species, differing in half a dozen locations or so from each other. There is an EU clade (the type area), and ENA clade, an AK clade, and our WNA clade that includes sequences from WA and ID, which I am assigning a provisional code to in case the species is split. Phellinus betulinus ME? - a resupinate species on birch. Sequences of P. betulinus from ENA and of P. laevigatus EU are the same in ITS. You need TEF1 or other genes to distinguish them, but P. laevigatus is only proven from the EU. Differences in spore size have always been subtle and it may be difficult to distinguish them except by geography. We have ENA sequences, but we need local collections. Phellinus alni PNW02 - usually on alder, birch or maple. When on birch it may have to be differentiated microscopically from P. nigricans. NA sequences are about 2% different in ITS (mostly in ITS1) than EU type area sequences, so I am using a provisional number in case our species is split. Apparently LSU cannot distinguish our sequences from EU sequences. We have a WA and an ID collection sequenced. Phellinus lundelii EU - also on alder and birch, differentiated from P. alni microscopically. ENA sequences match EU sequences, so it's possible reports of this here are true. We need local collections. Phellinus pomaceoides TX - on plum and cherry trees. This is the only species in the P. pomaceus group known from NA so far. We need local collections. Phellinus pomaceus EU (=Phellinus tuberculosus EU) - Some think that P. tuberculosus is the older name, but Boletus tuberculosus was a duplicate name when it was described, so P. pomaceus is actually the older legal name. It has been proven only from the EU, so NA reports of this probably represent P. pomaceoides. If you think you actually find this, save it. Phellinus prunicola ME - a resupinate pore surface on plum and cherry trees. We have one US sequence purporting to be this. We need local collections. Phellinus tremulae PNW01 - on aspen and cottonwood. Sequences of this fall into 3-4 clades, differing by up to a half dozen bp or so from each other. The clades don't correspond to geography, and Russian type area sequences are in 2 of the clades. Just in case the clade with a CO and WA sequence is determined to not be the real thing, I am tentatively using a provisional number. Phellinus PNW03 - also from aspen and cottonwood, known as species NA1 in Brazee. He found it in Idaho and we have an OR collection sequenced. No word yet on how to differentiate it from P. tremulae. Phellinus artemisiae CA - found in Idaho on Artemisia sagebrush, with an interesting semi-resupinate shape and large pores. Our sequence matches a sequence provided by the authors of the species. Phellinus arctostaphyli (from CA on chamise) © Christian Shwarz,     P. 'nigricans PNW04' © Sadie Hickey (from CA),     P. 'alni PNW02' © Fred Rhoades,     P. PNW03 © Bruce Newhouse Phellinus artemisiae © Ed Barge (2 photos)   Fomitporia is difficult to separate from Phellinus and the others, as it was mostly determined to be distinct by DNA. Fomitiporia fissurata CA - an oak species, like Phellinus everhartii. Reports of Fomitiporia robusta EU most likely all represent this. One WA collection has a sequence matching CA sequences used in the paper describing F. fissurata. Fomitiporia robusta EU - This is another oak species reported from here, but those reports probably represent F. fissurata. DNA has only proven F. robusta from Europe so far. Fomitiporia tsugina NH - a sort of resupinate species on conifers. It may have a cap and pores, but they are flattened. Sometimes regarded as a synonym of Fomitporia hartigii EU, but DNA shows that seems to be a distinct species only found so far in Europe and Asia. More than a dozen NA sequences show us what F. tsugina is, and we have matching sequences from OR and WA collections. Fomitiporia repanda ID - another resupinate conifer species with much smaller spores (4-5.5 x 3-4.5u vs. 6-7.5 x 5-6.5u). No reliable DNA yet. Asian sequences with this name (that are probably misidentified) are no where near other Fomitiporia species, but in the genus Tropicoporus. Fomitiporia punctata EU - a resupinate hardwood species. This species has ITS that can vary by 2%, and is so far found only in Europe and rarely in ENA. We need local collections to see if reports of this being here are true. It may only occur here on ornamental hardwoods, so save any resupinate hardwood collections you find. Fomitiporia fissurata © Michael Beug,     Fomitipora tsugina © Jack Johnson and Yi-Min Wang   Fulvifomes lacks setae and has coloured spores. Fulvifomes robiniae ENA - usually found on locust. We have a bunch of ENA type area sequences and an AZ sequence. It has been reported once from Idaho. We need local sequences.   Fuscoporia has crystal encrustations on the generative hyphae, does have setae, and has thin walled colourless smooth spores. Fuscoporia ferrea EU - a perennial yellow-brown resupinate, supposedly on conifers and hardwoods. Two OR sequences match EU type area sequences as well as ENA sequences where they have this species too. Fuscoporia ferruginosa EU - an annual red-brown resupinate, supposedly on conifers and hardwoods. We have many EU type area sequences, but need local collections. Fuscoporia gilva Carolinas? - a mustard yellow conk usually found on oak or other hardwoods. I think this is one of Schweinitz' species from the Carolinas that he published in Germany. It is found in ENA and California so far, but not in the EU. It is most common equitorially around the globe. We need local collections. Fuscoporia viticola PN - it's not clear if this conk is more likely to be on conifers or hardwoods. This seems to be a Schweinitz PN species. We have what I think are ENA and EU sequences, but we need local collections. Fuscoporia ferrea © Bruce Newhouse (2 images)   I'm not sure how to characterize Phellinidium, except that those species left in this genus are not parasitic and resupinate. Phellinidium ferrugineofuscum EU - This species is a purplish brown resupinate pore surface. We have a bunch of EU sequences, but no local sequences yet to compare. Coniferiporia was segregated from Phellinidium because it is parasitic and a sister clade to the non-parasitic species left in Phellinidium. It's a matter of opinion if they deserve their own genus, and difficult to distinguish from the many other parasitic genera on this page. These two species are referred to as laminated root rot because they eventually cause the wood to separate at the growth rings. Coniferiporia sulphurascens Siberia  -  This species is an annual brown resupinate usually on Doug fir. Seven Russian sequences show us what this is and a half dozen sequences from interior BC match them. We need photographed local collections. Coniferiporia weirii ID - this similar species is a perennial brown resupinate usually on western red cedar. We have what I think are BC sequences that show us what this native species is. We need photographed local collections.   Phellinopsis has the setae (thick, dark hairs) arising from the tissue in between the pores, not on the surface of the pores where the spores grow like most other genera with setae. Phellinopsis conchata EU - Brazee provides LSU sequences from EU and NY. I have the ITS sequence of one of the NY sequences to compare to, but no local DNA yet. Phellinopsis overholtsii ID - We have a MT collection by Gilbertson that shows us the sequence of this local species. We need photographed local collections.   Phellopilus only has the one species so far. Phellopilus nigrolimitatus EU - mostly found on spruce and best recognized by some black lines separating the various layers of the flesh (Phylloporia can have this too) when cut open and unique carrot-shaped spores. We have dozens of EU sequences, but the DNA hasn't been found outside of the EU yet. We need local collections.   Phylloporia is perennial but monomitic, but the fruit bodies resemble Phellinus far more than they do Inonotus. The flesh is still very dense, but the upper layer of the flesh is somewhat softer and spongier than the other genera, and there is a black line separating the softer upper flesh from the denser lower flesh (Phellopilus can have black lines too). Phylloporia ribis EU - This species is often found on currant/gooseberry shrubs. We have conflicting sequences from the EU about what this sequence is, and we need local collections too.   Porodaedalea is a conifer genus with maze-like pores (that may darken when handled). See this study and this study. Porodaedalea pini EU and Porodaedalea chrysoloma EU are the two species most commonly reported from the PNW. Neither actually occur here. Porodaedalea cancriformans OR - on true fir, 3-5 pores per mm, spores 4.5 - 5u long. This is a good species. Porodaedalea gilbertsonii CA - on Doug fir, 2-3 pores per mm, spores >4.5u wide. Porodaedalea PNW01 (holarctic pacific) - found on the pacific coast. ITS alone can't distinguish between this and P. gilbertsonii. The one confirmed tree type is Doug fir. Porodaedalea PNW02 (holarctic interior) - found in the pacific interior. We have an eastern WA sequence from near fir and spruce and Doug fir. Porodaedalea PNW03 (holarctic Atlantic-Boreal) - found in ENA and boreal BC. ITS alone does not distinguish P. gilbertsonii from P. PNW01. Location and host tree might not either. You need multiple genes. Porodaedalea piceina is an old ENA spruce species that is poorly understood. Since even multiple gene studies show the last four species are very close to each other, what does this all mean? If all four species are to be considered one species, it would probably be called P. piceina, which would not be restricted to spruce after all. If all four species are to be considered separate, P. piceina might refer to PNW03, which would not be restricted to spruce. PNW01 and PNW02 would need names. If P. piceina is indeed restricted to spruce, PNW03 would need to be split into P. piceina and a a fifth new species, but even a 4-gene study could not tell them apart, so I doubt this would happen. P. gilbertsonii and PNW01 might be considered the same species, not restricted to Doug fir, and the others might be separate species. For now, I treat them separately as above. Porodaedalea PNW01 © Yi-Min Wang,     P. PNW02 © Richard Morrison

Inonotis s.l. (Inocutis, Inonotopsis, Mensularia, Onnia, Pseudoinonotus, Rigidonotus) - click to expand These rusty brown pored and fleshed polypores are usually monomitic (softer than wood, but still somewhat tough and succulent) and annual (not showing "growth rings" in the tube layers when cut in half, but the flesh above the tube layers may be stratified). Many are artist conks, with the pores darkening even more where touched. Species mentioned: Inocutis dryophila, rheades. Inonotopsis subiculosa. Inonotus andersonii, cuticularis, glomeratus, hispidus, obliquus. Mensularia radiata. Onnia leporina, tomentosa, triquetra. Pseudoinonotus dryadeus.   Inocutis dryophila OH - species of Inocutis have a hard, granular centre and lack setae. We need local sequences. Inocutis rheades EU - sequences of both I. dryophila and I. rheades from ENA and the EU intermix, so I can't be sure which species is which or how many species are in the complex. We have no local sequences of either yet.   Inonotopsis subiculosa NY - a resupinate pore crust on conifers. We have a chinese sequence purporting to be this, but we need ENA type area sequences and local sequences to compare.   Inonotus cf cuticularis EU - up to 5 cm x 11 cm x 1.5 cm. IN sequences differ from EU sequences by a few % so it's possible our western species is also unique. We need local sequences to find out. Inonotus hispidus EU - larger (10 cm x 16 cm) with a bristlier cap. We have many EU sequences, which differ from each other by 1% or so, including some ambiguous locations, so this species, like many others in this family, seems to have some ITS variation. We need local sequences. Inonotus (Rigidonotus) glomeratus NY - a reflexed species covering large areas. Some of the genera split from Inonotus are sister to Inonotus and didn't necessarily have to be split, and that includes Nothofagus and Rigidonotus. A bunch of ENA type area sequences match each other well, but we need local sequences to compare to them. Inonotus obliquus PNW01 - Chaga, making a popular tea. Usually found in its asexual stage, it is a black cracked cankerous crust on birch, not at all recognizable as belonging to this family. Known from Alaska and the BC Rockies and possibly from the Idaho Rockies. There seem to be several species in the EU where it was described, and collections from IN and northern BC seem to be different as well. Inonotus andersonii  NJ - a similar cankerous crust on oak, but not as northern in distribution. There are 2 clades of this back east, differing by some ambiguous locations and long indels. I don't know if there's one species or two. We need local collections. Inonotus 'cuticularis IN01' from Indiana © Ron Kerner,     unsequenced Inonotus obliquus © Andrew Parker   Mensularia radiata UK - a somewhat small (<5 cm across) brightly coloured artist polypore on hardwood. A bunch of EU sequences are about 6 bp apart from each other and an AK and WI sequence are about the same distance, so this seems to be a species with somewhat variable ITS. We need local sequences. Mensularia radiata © Andrew Khitsun   Onnia tomentosa EU - a thick fleshed orange brown somewhat stemmed annual polypore. The caps are round when found on the ground but more semi-circular/conk like when on a tree. The pores usually darken when touched. This species is supposed to be found on or under spruce, but that hasn't been verified, as I suspect pine was near at least some of the collections. This species has some variation in ITS, but one of our local sequences is 3% different than the others so we should verify that it's all one species. Onnia subtriquetra VA - this is found on or under pine species, but as the supposed spruce species has not been verified to always be with spruce, I don't yet know how to reliably tell the two species apart. This paper shows that Onnia leporina EU is distinct from Onnia triquetra EU, and describes Onnia subtriquetra as being similar but also distinct. Our local sequences best match O. subtriquetra so that seems to be the west coast species. Onnia tomentosa © Steve Ness and Mary McCallum,     O. subtriquetra © iNaturalist user minnis and Steve Ness   Pseudoinonotus dryadeus PNW01 - This large conk may be up to 40 cm across, and is known for exuding reddish water droplets when young. It is found both on conifers and oak. The pores are rather pale for the family, but darken when touched. This species is 7 bp and 4 indels different than an EU sequence. There is often some ITS variation in this family within a species, but just in case ours is unique, I am giving it a code number. Pseudoinonotus dryadeus PNW02 - This species is 3% different in ITS from the EU sequence. I don't know how to tell them apart. Pseudoinonotus dryadeus PNW01 © SVIMS,     Pseudoinonotus dryadeus PNW02 © Sharon Squazzo and Mary McCallum

Hymenochaete s.l. (Hydnoporia) - click to expand Crust fungi without pores, thin leathery rusty coloured resupinates on wood that may be reflexed with a cap. Species mentioned: Hymenochaete cinnamomea, curtisii, fuliginosa, rubiginosa. Hydnoporia corrugata, tabacina. Pseudochaete tabacina. Hymenochaetopsis tabacina.   Hydnoporia corrugata EU - resupinate, not illustrated. We have the neotype sequence. Hymenochaete cinnamomea EU subsp. spreta NY - resupinate, not illustrated. We have an EU sequence (that might represent the type variety) and a MI sequence (that might represent subsp. spreta) that differ by 1-2% in ITS1, but one sequence might be dirty. I don't know if this is a species complex or not. Hymenochaete fuliginosa EU - resupinate, not illustrated. Chinese and BC sequences match, so I hypothesize that they will match type area EU sequences too, once we get them. Hydnoporia tabacina EU (=Pseudochaete tabacina EU, =Hymenochaetopsis tabacina EU) - with a orange-brown zoned cap like Stereum with a possible white margin, it is tobacco to coffee brown underneath. Found on hardwoods with the caps projecting <2 cm. Hymenochaete rubiginosa EU - similar effuso-reflexed species, but more wooden-hard and more reddish-brown, on oak. We have EU sequences that probably represent this. ENA has a couple clades of sequences that differ from EU sequences. We need PNW sequences to see how they fit in. Hymenochaete curtisii SC - differs microscopically from H. tabacina, and usually found on oak. ENA sequences do not agree on what this species' sequence is. No local collections. Hydnoporia tabacina © Yi-Min Wang (2 images), setae © Bee Marcotte

Bridgeoporus, Coltricia, Trichaptum - click to expand Species mentioned: Bridgeoporus nobilissimus. Coltricia cinnamomea, montagnei, perennis. Trichaptum abietinum, biforme, fuscoviolaceum, laricinum, subchartaceum.   Bridgeoporus nobilissimus WA - one of our largest polypores, up to 1 metre across, with white pores and flesh and a pale fuzzy "carpet" on the cap often covered in algae. When described, it was only known from 9 sites - 4 in WA and 5 in OR from old growth noble fir. Bridgeoporus nobilissimus © Jonathan Frank   Coltricia PNW01 - stemmed rusty pored and fleshed polypores with thin flesh. There are four possible EU concepts (so far) of Coltricia perennis EU. We have 2 of them found so far in the PNW. We'll need a type sequence to know if one of ours is the real thing. Coltricia PNW02 - perhaps more strongly decurrent than PNW01, but no reliable differentiating characters yet. Coltricia CA01 - a thick, dark, interior species (but also found in Bellingham WA) found here in WA, OR, and ID. Coltricia cinnamomea EU (=Polyporus subsericus NY?, =Polyporus splendens NY?) - supposedly smaller (<5 cm wide vs. <10 cm wide for C. perennis) with shinier colours and from hardwood forests instead of conifer forests. There are 2 possible concepts (so far) of this EU species. This implies that the NY species Polyporus subsericeus and Polyporus splendens may not be synonyms as currently assumed. We need type sequences and local collections to find out what reports of this species are. It's possible that 2 species in the PNW are PNW01 and PNW02, neither of which are C. perennis nor C. cinnamomea, but that they have been mistaken for those species. Coltricia montagnei EU (=Coltricia greenei MA?, =Coltricia memmingeri NC?) - a large species (<12 cm wide) with either maze-like pores, or gill-like but arranged in concentric plates. Two chinese sequences with this name don't match a FL sequence at all, and my tree can't even place this species with the other species in the genus, although one study did show all these species together. We need local collections. Coltricia PNW01 © Yi-Min Wang (2 images),     C. PNW02 © Jonathan Fran, Yi-Min Wang, and NAMA and the Field Museum of Natural History Coltricia CA01 © Autumn Anglin,     unsequenced Coltricia montagnei © Stephen Russell   Trichaptum abietinum PNW01 - thin, leathery, usually reflexed whitish caps growing on conifers with purple pores underneath when fresh, fading to brown. Algae often grows on the cap. Our local sequences do not match EU type area sequences, so it appears our species is unnamed. Trichaptum abietinum PNW02 - found once in WA, is a mutated lilac growth on Stereum. It differs mostly in ITS1 from PNW01 by 2% or so. Trichaptum abietinum PNW03 - we also have another local species, but I don't yet know how to tell them apart. One sequence is 4 bp and 2 indels different than the others. Trichaptum biforme EU - a hardwood species, usually a bracket with very little of it lying resupinate on the wood. The pores easily tatter and become somewhat tooth-like. We have dozens of worldwide sequences that match, but no local collections sequenced yet. Trichaptum fuscoviolaceum EU - there is variation of 1.5% or so in ITS between different EU sequences. We don't have any local sequences to see what they match with. Trichaptum laricinum Russia - a reflexed conifer species with gills underneath. We have one ENA sequence purporting to be this, but we need reliable type area sequences and local sequences. Trichaptum subchartaceum CO - a reflexed aspen and cottonwood species that has thicker flesh (<1 cm) than the other species, We have AZ sequences that probably represent this. It is found in ENA too, and so the reports of it being here could be true, but we don't have any local sequences. Trichaptum 'abietinum PNW01' © Eric Chalmers,     T. 'abietinum PNW02' © Matthew Koons,     T. 'abietinum PNW03' © Dominic Kurdziolek

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