''Laetiporus gilbertsonii'' is a species of

polypore Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside (see Delimitation for exceptions). They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polyp ...

fungus in the family

Fomitopsidaceae The Fomitopsidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. Most species are parasitic on woody plants, and tend to cause brown rots. The name comes from ''Fomitopsis'' (meaning "looking like Fomes") + ''-aceae'' (a suffix used to form t ...

. It is found in western North America. It was one of three new ''

Laetiporus ''Laetiporus'' is a genus of edible mushrooms found throughout much of the world. Some species, especially '' Laetiporus sulphureus'', are commonly known as sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, or the chicken fungus becaus ...

'' species published in 2001, which were distinguished genetically from the common ''

Laetiporus sulphureus ''Laetiporus sulphureus'' is a species of bracket fungus (fungi that grow on trees) found in Europe and North America. Its common names are crab-of-the-woods, sulphur polypore, sulphur shelf, and chicken-of-the-woods. Its fruit bodies grow as ...

''; the others were '' L. conifericola'' and '' L. huroniensis''. 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. * Ty ...

collection, made in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

's Golden Gate Park in 1997, was found fruiting on a

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of Flowering plant, flowering trees, shrubs or Mallee (habit), mallees in the Myrtaceae, myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the Tribe (biology) ...

tree. It has also been collected in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The fungus is named in honor of mycologist Robert Lee Gilbertson. ''L. gilbertsonii'' is

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushro ...

, although some people have reported experiencing upset stomach after consuming it. '' Laetiporus conifericola'' is very similar in appearance, but is readily distinguished by its growth on

conifer Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All ex ...

References

Edible fungi Fungi described in 2001 Fungi of the United States Fungal plant pathogens and diseases gilbertsonii Fungi without expected TNC conservation status {{Polyporales-stub