Fomes fomentarius

On wood of living or dead trees, with sessile, ungulate (hoof-shaped) basidiocarps; pileus surface hard and glabrous, blackish grey to pale brown; pore surface pale brown, with 4 to 5 round pores per mm, and tubes 1.5 to 2 mm long that become stratified, constituting most of the internal basidiocarp tissue.

Hyphal system trimitic: skeletal hyphae very abundant in context, thick-walled, without septa, 3 to 8 µm wide, with abundant brownish pigment inside; generative hyphae thin-walled, hyaline, 2 to 4 µm wide, more abundant in subhymenium, septate and clamped; binding hyphae profusely branched, 1.5 to 3 µm wide, very thick-walled.

Abundant hyphoid elements on the edges of the pore dissepiments, 3 to 5 µm wide, with numerous surface encrustations, up to 120 µm long, projecting up to 60 µm above the basal hyphal context.

Cystidia absent, but abundant thin-walled, hyaline cystidioles present, 25 to 35 µm long, 4 to 7 µm wide, with basal clamp connections.

Basidia cylindrical-clavate, 20 to 25 µm long, 7 to 9 µm wide, with basal clamp connections and four-spored.

Basidiospores cylindrical to slightly fusiform, smooth, hyaline, thin-walled, 15 to 19 µm long, 5 to 6.5 µm wide, with faint granular content inside, and inamyloid in Melzer's reagent.

Herbarium material available: JTP2798/26.