Phyllotopsis nidulans
Beih. bot. Zbl.(B)56: 143. 1936.
Common Name: none
Fruiting body 2-8 cm broad, fan-shaped, convex with an incurved margin, becoming nearly plane, the margin then often wavy; surface hygrophanous, moist, densely tomentose, pale apricot-brown to buff-brown, lighter in age; flesh thin, pliant to tough, buff-brown, unchanging; odor skunk-like; taste unpleasant; stipe and veil absent.
Gills radiating from a sessile attachment point, close, relatively narrow, pale orange-buff, darkening slightly in age.
Spores 4.5-6.5 x 2-2.5 µm, bean-shaped, smooth, inamyloid; spore print pale salmon-pink.
Clustered or forming overlapping shelves on log and branches of hardwoods and conifers; fruiting from mid to late winter.
Unknown and unlikely to change due to a tough context and fetid odor.
This fleshy shelf fungus looks like and was once placed in Pleurotus, but was moved into its own genus because of spore and context differences. The skunk-like odor and pale orange, tomentose cap easily distinguish it from any of our local Panus or Crepidotus species.
Arora, D. (1986). Mushrooms Demystified. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 959 p.
Bas, C., Kyper, T.W., Noordeloos, M.E. & Vellinga, E.C. (1990). Flora Agaricina Neerlandica—Critical monographs on the families of agarics and boleti occuring in the Netherlands. Volume 2. Pleurotaceae, Pluteaceae, Tricholomataceae. A. A. Balkema: Rotterdam, Netherlands. 137 p.
Desjardin, D.E., Wood, M.G. & Stevens, F.A. (2015). California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide. Timber Press: Portland, OR. 560 p.
Hesler, L.R. & Smith, A.H. (1965). North American Species of Crepidotus. Hafner Publishing Company: New York, NY. 168 p.
Siegel, N. & Schwarz, C. (2016). Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast. Ten Speed Press: Berkeley, CA. 601 p.
Watling, R. & Gregory, N.M. (1989). British Fungus Flora: Agarics and Boleti. Vol 6. Crepidotaceae and other pleurotoid agarics. Royal Botanic Garden: Edinburgh, Scotland. 157 p.
— very young sporocarps!
— cap
