''Irpex lacteus'' is a common

crust fungus The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps (fruit bodies) that are formed on the undersides of dead tree trunks or branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or pa ...

distributed throughout

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

areas of the world. It is the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

of the genus ''

Irpex ''Irpex'' is a genus of corticioid fungi in the order Polyporales. Species produce fruit bodies that grow as a crust on the surface of dead hardwoods. The crust features an irpicioid spore-bearing surface (for which the genus is named), meaning ...

''. ''Irpex lacteus'' is considered a

polypore Polypores, also called bracket or shelf fungi, are a morphological group of basidiomycete-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi that form large fruiting bodies called conks, which are typically woody, circular, shelf- or bracket-shaped, ...

, but depending on growth conditions it can also produce a

hydnoid The hydnoid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota with basidiocarps (fruit bodies) producing spores on pendant, tooth-like or spine-like projections. They are colloquially called tooth fungi. Originally such fungi were referred to the ge ...

hymenophore. Due to this variability and abundance of the species it has been described as a new species to science numerous times and subsequently has an extensive

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. The complete

genome sequence A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

of ''Irpex lacteus'' was reported in 2017. ''Irpex lacteus'' is a white-rot fungus that inhabits mainly

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...

branches and trunks. It is one of the most common wood-rotting fungi for instance in urban North America. It is inedible. The fungus has been identified as a cause of pulmonary infections in immuno-compromised humans. White ToothV2

Taxonomy

The fungus was first described in 1818 by

Elias Magnus Fries Elias Magnus Fries (15 August 1794 – 8 February 1878) was a Swedish mycologist and botanist. He is sometimes called the Mycology, "Linnaeus of Mycology". In his works he described and assigned botanical names to hundreds of fungus and li ...

, who called it ''Sistotrema lacteum''. Fries later made it the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

of the genus ''

'' in 1828.

Synonyms

*''Boletus cinerascens'' Schwein. (1822) *''Boletus tulipiferae'' Schwein. (1822) *''Coriolus lacteus'' (Fr.) Pat. (1900) *''Coriolus tulipiferae'' (Schwein.) Pat. (1900) *''Daedalea diabolica'' Speg. (1889) *''Hirschioporus lacteus'' (Fr.) Teng (1963) *''Hydnum lacteum'' (Fr.) Fr. (1823) *''Irpex bresadolae'' Schulzer (1885) *''Irpex diabolicus'' (Speg.) Bres. (1919) *''Irpex hirsutus'' Kalchbr. (1878) *''Irpex lacteus'' f. ''sinuosus'' (Fr.) Nikol. (1953) *''Irpex pallescens'' Fr. (1838) *''Irpex sinuosus'' Fr. (1828) *''Irpiciporus lacteus'' (Fr.) Murrill (1907) *''Irpiciporus tulipiferae'' (Schwein.) Murrill (1905) *''Microporus chartaceus'' (Berk. & M.A.Curtis) Kuntze, (1898) *''Microporus cinerascens'' (Schwein.) Kuntze (1898) *''Polyporus chartaceus'' Berk. & M.A.Curtis (1849) *''Polyporus tulipiferae'' (Schwein.) Overh. s 'tulipiferus' (1915) *''Polystictus bresadolae'' (Schulzer) Sacc. (1888) *''Polystictus chartaceus'' (Berk. & M.A.Curtis) Cooke, (1886) *''Polystictus cinerascens'' (Schwein.) Cooke (1886) *''Polystictus cinerescens'' (Schwein.) Cooke *''Polystictus tulipiferae'' (Schwein.) Cooke (1886) *''Poria cincinnati'' Berk. ex Cooke, (1886) *''Poria tulipiferae'' (Schwein.) Cooke, (1888) *''Sistotrema lacteum'' Fr. (1818) *''Steccherinum lacteum'' (Fr.) Krieglst. (1999) *''Trametes lactea'' (Fr.) Pilát (1940) *''Xylodon bresadolae'' (Schulzer) Kuntze (1898) *''Xylodon hirsutus'' (Kalchbr.) Kuntze (1898) *''Xylodon lacteus'' (Fr.) Kuntze (1898) *''Xylodon pallescens'' (Fr.) Kuntze (1898) *''Xylodon sinuosus'' (Fr.) Kuntze (1898)

References

Fungi described in 1818 Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Fungal plant pathogens and diseases Inedible fungi Irpicaceae Taxa named by Elias Magnus Fries Fungus species {{Polyporales-stub