Good afternoon team. This week's mushroom is Panus neostrigosus - and unfortunately there is no common name. This mushroom is quite distinct looking and if you have any ideas for a common name let me know. This mushroom was found on 5/10/2021 on the blown over oak in Tupelo Meadow.
P. neostrigosus is found across North America. It predominantly fruits in the spring but can be found growing through the summer and into the fall. It is saprobic to hardwoods and has a conspicuously hairy cap. The mushroom is purple when young but circling back this morning I noted it has already lost its color and now is a dull tan/ochre.
Interestingly, it's noted that this fungus prefers recently dead trees - or those that have been blown over in a storm - and that's exactly the case with this oak. The other interesting fact is of the taxonomic variety: P. neostrigosus is a polypore - a bracket fungus - and one of just a few that possesses gills. Coincidentally another gilled polypore, Trametes betulina, was growing last year on this same portion of the downed oak. These polypores developed gills independently from regular gilled mushrooms in a process known as convergent evolution. It's like how bats evolved wings as mammals and are not at all related to birds.
The weather this week is going to be phenomenal for humans but not so much for mushrooms - enjoy it,
Aubrey
References:
1) Kuo, M. (2017, September). Panus neostrigosus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/panus_neostrigosus.html