Phellodon melaleucus (Fr.) P. Karst.
gray tooth
Bankeraceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
gray tooth
Bankeraceae
Species account author: Ian Gibson.
Extracted from Matchmaker: Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.
Introduction to the Macrofungi
Species Information
Summary:
Features include 1) a faintly zoned cap colored a grayish brown that may have purple brown or yellowish brown tints, 2) thin tough flesh that is brown to purplish gray or purplish black and stains dark olivaceous with KOH, 3) short grayish brown teeth, and 4) light to dark brown tough stem.
Chemical Reactions:
flesh turns dark olivaceous with KOH, (Harrison)
Odor:
when drying like Maggi seasoning (Breitenbach), of fenugreek, especially when dried, (Hall), none, but "has the strongly fragrant odor of most Phellodon species when dried", (Harrison)
Taste:
mild to somewhat bitter (Breitenbach), not distinguishable (Hall), mild (Harrison)
Microscopic:
spores 3.5-4.5 x 3-4 microns excluding spines, nearly round, with +/- pointed spines, inamyloid, colorless; basidia 4-spored, 22-35 x 4-5 microns, slenderly clavate, without basal clamp connection; cystidia not seen; hyphae monomitic, in subhymenium 1.5-3.5 microns wide and thin-walled, in the cap trama 2-5 microns wide and rather thick-walled; clamp connections absent, (Breitenbach), spores 4-5 microns in diameter, round to nearly round, finely echinulate; basidia 25-30 x 4.5-5.5 microns; hyphae (2)3-4(5) microns wide, "in Melzer''s reagent no reaction in spines or flesh, but in the surface hairs and in some of the hyphae next to the hairs a slight apparent-amyloid reaction", (Harrison(3)), spores 3.6-4.2 x 3.2-4.0 microns, round to nearly round, echinulate, inamyloid; basidia 30-35 x 4-5 microns, clavate; hyphae up to 8 microns wide, brownish, thin-walled, without clamp connections, (Hall)
Spore Deposit:
white (Buczacki)
Notes:
There are scattered records of Phellodon melaleucus from the Carolinas to Canada, including MI, but it is most abundant in the north and particularly in the Pacific Northwest, (Harrison). It occurs specifically in BC (collections at Pacific Forestry Centre include one determined by K.A. Harrison) and WA, (Hall). It is also found in Europe (Breitenbach).
Habitat and Range
SIMILAR SPECIES
Phellodon niger likely occurs in the Pacific Northwest as well, based on DNA found in British Columbia; apparently it is like P. melaleucus, but has duplex flesh in the stem (hard core) and a tomentose stem, (D. Miller, pers. comm.). |Phellodon atratus is nearly black, the KOH reaction on the flesh is deep bluish black, and microscopically dark granules are found in the hyphae of the flesh (in P. melaleucus only in the cuticular hyphae) and the flesh appears amyloid, (Harrison(1)). P. atratus has a cap that is bluish black to purplish black or black, flesh that is purple-black to bluish black, spines that are gray to dark purplish gray-brown, and a stem that is colored like the cap, (Arora(1)). P. atratus is very similar, but can be distinguished by the color of the cap and the hymenium (more difficult when very wet, but on drying separation is again possible): P. melaleucus has a "dark vinaceous-brown" cap at times tinged "violaceous blue" with a ''whitish'' margin and ''ash-gray'' teeth, whereas P. atratus has an "aniline-black" cap with a "violaceous blue" margin and a "vinaceous-drab" hymenium, (Hall). See also SIMILAR section of Phellodon tomentosus.Habitat
gregarious to concrescent [growing joined] in large masses, under conifers, (Harrison(3)), single or in small groups, on ground in duff under Pseudotsuga (Douglas-fir), Pinus (pine), or Tsuga (hemlock), (Hall), cespitose or in fairy rings, in mixed conifer-hardwood forests, (Breitenbach)
Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Phellodon brunneo-olivaceus Coker & Beers
Phellodon brunneoroseus Snell, E.A. Dick, and H.A.C. Jacks.
Phellodon delicatus (Schwein.) Banker
Phellodon ellisianus Banker