Trichaptum abietinum (Dicks.: Fries) Ryvarden
Norw. J. Bot. 19: 237. 1972.

Common Name: none

Synonym: Hirschioporus abietinus (Dickson:Fr.) Donk

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body annual or short-lived perennial, 1-4 cm broad, up to 0.5 cm thick, flattened to slightly convex, margin wavy, forming tiers of overlapping sessile shelves; surface hairy, zonate, whitish to light-grey, usually pale purple near the margin, in age sometimes greenish from colonizing algae; flesh leathery, thin, pale brown to purplish-brown.

• Hymenophore

  Tubes single-seried, 1-3 mm long, pale brown; pores 2-4 per mm, circular to angular, at maturity frequently toothlike; purple when young, fading to brownish-purple.

• Spores

  Spores 4-6.5 x 2.5-3.0 µm, smooth, allantoid (curved cylindrical); spore print off-white.

• Habitat

  In overlapping tiers on dead conifer wood, found year-round, shriveling in dry weather but capable of reviving; fresh fruitings emerging from late fall to mid-winter.

• Edibility

  Inedible, leathery.

• Comments

  This attractive small, leathery shelf fungus makes up in numbers for its lack of size, often dominating on conifer logs. The white, hairy, zonate cap, usually with a purplish margin when young, and purple-tinged pores make it easy to recognize, although in age the pores may breakdown to form spines causing possible confusion with species of tooth fungi. Look-alikes include Schizophyllum commune, also with a whitish, hairy cap, distinguished by a "split gill" hymenium, and Fomitopsis cajanderi, an uncommon but larger, woody polypore that has a blackish-brown cap and pinkish pore surface. A closely related species, Trichaptum biformis, (aka Hirschioporus pargamenus), grows primarily on hardwoods.

• References

  Bernicchia, A. (2005). Polyporaceae s.l. (Fungi Europaei). Edizioni Candusso: Alassio, Italy. 807 p.
  Gilbertson, R. L. & Ryvarden, L. (1987). North American Polypores, vol. 2. Fungiflora: Oslo, Norway. 452 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Trichaptum abietinum (CP)
  • Fred Stevens: Trichaptum abietinum (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Trichaptum abietinum (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Trichaptum abietinum (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Trichaptum abietinum (CP)
  • Common Tree Diseases of British Columbia: Trichaptum abietinum (D & CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Trichaptum abietinum (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 593 (D & P) [as Trichaptum abietinus]
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (vol. 2): sp. 360 (D, I, & CP)
  • Gilbertson & Ryvarden (1987): p. 768 (D), p. 769 (I)
  • Jordan: p. 105 (D & CP)
  • Tylutki (1987): p. 194 (D & P)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)