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Species Information
Summary: Features of Polyporus squamosus are 1) a large, tough, buff-colored to pale yellow cap with coarse dark scales, 2) thick flesh, 3) a buff to light brown pore surface that is decurrent on the stem, 4) a thick, hard, brown to black, velvety lower stem, 5) large angular pores, 6) growth on hardwood, and 7) large basidia and spores. The online Species Fungorum, accessed September 3, 2018, gave the current name as Cerioporus squamosus (Huds.) Quel. but MycoBank, accessed the same day, gave that name as a synonym of Polyporus squamosus (Huds.) Fr.
Polyporus squamosus is found in BC, WA, ID, AB, NB, NS, ON, PQ, AR, AZ, CO, CT, IA, IL, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, PE, TN, VT, WI, and WV, (Gilbertson).
Cap: up to 18cm across and 5cm thick, dimidiate [roughly semicircular], kidney-shaped, or circular; pale buff with thin blackish brown pellicle [skin] "that breaks up to form dark, scale-like patches", not zoned, occasional specimens are not scaly, (Gilbertson), 5-30cm, at first circular or fan-shaped; whitish to ochraceous cream; covered with concentric dark brown hairy scales, (Phillips), up to 5(8)cm across, (Breitenbach)
Flesh: up to 4cm thick, corky, not zoned; pale buff, (Gilbertson), 1-3cm thick, "succulent when fresh, drying corky; white", (Phillips)
Pores: 1-2 per mm, angular, walls becoming torn, decurrent on stem down to black part at base; buff to light brown; tube layer up to 1cm thick, colored as flesh, (Gilbertson), irregular and angular, decurrent; whitish to ochraceous cream; tube layer 0.2-0.8cm thick, (Phillips), 1-2 per mm (Breitenbach), 1-2 mm across (Courtecuisse)
Stem: lateral, black and minutely tomentose at base, rest of stem usually covered by decurrent tube layer, (Gilbertson), 1-5cm x 1-4cm, lateral or occasionally off-center, stubby; blackish toward base, (Phillips), 3-10cm x 1-6cm, (Breitenbach), 3-8cm x 1-5cm, central or more usually lateral, (Lincoff(1))
Odor: strongly of meal (Phillips), farinaceous (Breitenbach), like watermelon rind (Lincoff(2)), cheese-like then mealy, (Lincoff(1))
Taste: mild and pleasant when young (Phillips), farinaceous (Breitenbach), like watermelon rind (Lincoff(2), Lincoff(1))
Microscopic: spores 16-20 x 6-9 microns, broadly cylindric, smooth, inamyloid, colorless; basidia 4-spored, 60-85 x 9-12 microns, clavate with narrow base, with basal clamp; cystidia absent; hyphae dimitic; generative hyphae of context 3-4.5 microns wide, thin-walled, with clamp connections, binding hyphae of context 4-7.5 microns wide, colorless, thick-walled, "nonseptate, with occasional branching, some dentrically branched with branches tapering to 1-2 microns"; hyphae of trama similar; hyphae of dark tomentum of base of stem "composed of thick-walled hyphae that are reddish brown in Melzer''s reagent and in KOH, compactly arranged and difficult to separate", (Gilbertson), 10-16 x 4-6 microns, oblong elliptic, smooth, (Phillips), spores 11-15.5 x 4.5-5.5 microns, basidia 35-40 x 7-9 microns, (Breitenbach), spores 10-12 x 4-5 microns, (Lincoff(1)), spores 10-16 x 4-6 microns, (Lincoff(2))
Spore Deposit: white (Phillips)
Habitat / Range
annual, single or several from branched base, on living hardwoods, also often found on stumps or dead standing or fallen trees, associated with white heartrot of living and dead hardwoods, (Gilbertson), single or "in overlapping clusters on the wounds of dead trees", (Phillips), spring and summer (Bacon)
Similar Species
Polyporus tuberaster has similar cap scales but 1) arises from a blackish sclerotium, 2) normally has a thinner, less robust fruitbody, and 3) has scales that are raised and tufted rather than rounded and agglutinated, (Gilbertson).
yes (Phillips), the tender edges of caps can be pickled, sauteed or fried, (Lincoff(2)), sometimes boiled to add flavor to soup stock, then discarded, (Lincoff(1)), yes but older caps too tough (McKnight)
