''Cerioporus squamosus'',

synonym 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 ...

''Polyporus squamosus'', is a

basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basid ...

bracket fungus, with

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s including dryad's saddle and pheasant's back mushroom. It has a widespread distribution, being found in Australia, Eurasia, and North America, and it causes a white rot in the

heartwood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

of living and dead

hardwood Hardwood is wood from Flowering plant, angiosperm trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostl ...

trees.

Taxonomy

The species was first described scientifically by British botanist William Hudson in 1778, who named it ''Boletus squamosus''. It was given its current name in 1886 by

Lucien Quélet Lucien Quélet (; 14 July 1832 – 25 August 1899) was a French natural history, naturalist and mycologist. Quélet discovered several species of fungi and was the founder of the Société mycologique de France, a society devoted to mycological ...

but is still widely known by the

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 ...

name ''Polyporus squamosus''.

Etymology

''Squamosus'' comes from the Latin ''squamosus'' meaning covered with scales or scaly, referring to the signature dark brown scales found on the mushroom's cap. The name "dryad's saddle" refers to creatures in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

called

dryad A dryad (; , sing. ) is an oak tree nymph or oak tree spirit in Greek mythology; ''Drys'' (δρῦς) means "tree", and more specifically " oak" in Greek. Today the term is often used to refer to tree nymphs in general. Types Daphnaie Thes ...

s who could conceivably sit and rest on this mushroom, whereas the ''pheasant's back'' analogy derives from the pattern of colors on the bracket matching that of a

pheasant Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, the pheasant genera's native range is restricted to Eura ...

's back.

Description

Dryad's saddle is an annual mushroom commonly found attached to dead logs and stumps or on living hardwood trees at one point with a thick stem. Generally, the

fruit body The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

is round and between across – exceptionally – and up to thick. The body can be yellow to brown and has "squamules" or scales on its upper side. On the underside one can see the pores that are characteristic of the genus '' Cerioporus''; they are made up of tubes packed together closely. The tubes are between long. The stalk is long and thick. The mushroom's smell resembles that of

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

rind. The fruit body produces a white

spore print 300px, Making a spore print of the mushroom ''Volvariella volvacea'' shown in composite: (photo lower half) mushroom cap laid on white and dark paper; (photo upper half) cap removed after 24 hours showing warm orange ("tussock") color spore print. ...

. The spores are 11–15 x 4–5 μm and are long and smooth ellipsoids. They can be found alone, in clusters of two or three, or forming shelves. Young specimens are soft but toughen with age. It is particularly common on dead elm and is also found on living maple trees. The fruit bodies, or "shelves" can grow rapidly.One studied by pioneer botanist Sir William J. Hooker at Dalbeth, Scotland in 1810 grew to a circumference of and a weight of in four weeks.

Similar species

In '' Polyporus tuberaster'', the cap is rounder and the stipe more central, with the scales only dark at the tip.

Distribution and habitat

This organism is common and widespread, being found east of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

in the United States (April–October) and over much of Europe (July–November). It is also found in Asia and Australia. It commonly fruits in the spring, occasionally during autumn, and rarely during other seasons. Many mushroom hunters will stumble upon substantially sized mushroom this when looking for

morel ''Morchella'', the true morels, is a genus of edible sac fungi closely related to anatomically simpler cup fungi in the order Pezizales ( division Ascomycota). These distinctive fungi have a honeycomb appearance due to the network of ridges ...

s during the spring as both have similar fruiting times. The species plays an important role in woodland

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s by decomposing wood, usually

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

, but is occasionally a

parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

on living trees. Other tree hosts include ash,

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

horse-chestnut ''Aesculus hippocastanum'', the horse chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the maple, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large, deciduous, synoecious (hermaphroditic-flowered) tree. It is also called horse-chestnut, Europ ...

, Persian walnut, lime,

, plane, poplar,

magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, and

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...

Uses

The species is edible when young and cooked. Specimens can become infested with maggots and become firm, rubbery and inedible as they mature. Cookbooks dealing with preparation generally recommend gathering these while young, slicing them into small pieces and cooking them over a low heat. Some people value the thick, stiff

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

that can be made from this and many other mushrooms of the genus '' Cerioporus''.

Gallery

File:Polyporus squamosus 01.jpg, Forming "shelves" on the side of a tree File:Polyporus squamosus 25052006.jpg, Growing on ground File:Żagiew łuskowata Polyporus squamosus.jpg, Shelf growing on tree File:Żagiew łuskowata - kapelusz Polyporus squamosus.JPG, Bird's eye view of shelf File:Dryad's Saddle - pores.jpg, Growing on an elder (''

Sambucus nigra ''Sambucus nigra'' is a species complex of flowering plants in the family Viburnaceae native to most of Europe. Common names include elder, elderberry, black elder, European elder, European elderberry, and European black elderberry. It grows in ...

'') in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

File:POLYPORUS SQUAMOSUS (Huds. Fr.) Fr. (5857748241).jpg, Pores File:Polyporus squamosus secretion.jpg, Secretion File:Polyporus squamosus seepage.jpg, Close-up of secretion

References

External links

Mushroom-Collecting.com: Polyporus squamosus – Dryad's Saddle

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q96934111, from2=Q832812 squamosus Edible fungi Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Taxa named by William Hudson (botanist) Fungus species