Fomitopsis pinicola (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Gilb. & Ryvarden
Family: Fomitopsidaceae
Fomitopsis pinicola image
National Mushroom Centre  
Mata, M., D. Penjor and S. Pradham. 2010. Fungi of Bhutan. National Mushroom Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Thimphu, Bhutan.

Local name: No local name known

Edibility: Inedible due to its woody texture.

Habitat: On dead stumps and logs and occasionally on living trees and growing alone or gregariously.

Description: Fruiting bodies:  Up to 30 cm across, 15cm thick, semi-circular or fan-shaped or hoof-shaped, smooth, becoming wrinkled with age, red to dark brownish red or brown to black toward the point of attachment, with white to yellow marginal area, hard, woody. Hymenophore: Cream-colored pores, not bruising, with 3-6 round pores per mm, tube layers usually fairly distinct, up to 8 mm deep. Flesh: Up to 12 cm thick, corky, hard, woody, cream to buff. Spore Print: Whitish.

Comments: It might be confused with Ganoderma tsugae, but is perennial and much harder and denser. It has a bracket-like to shelf-like or irregularly knobby fruiting body. The cap is usually brown to greyish brown with a pallid growing margin, but is sometimes reddish-brown and its flesh does not redden in KOH. It is a frequent parasite of conifers and usually grows at the base of the trunk or from its roots.

Fomitopsis pinicola image
National Mushroom Centre  
Fomitopsis pinicola image
Sabitra Pradhan  
Fomitopsis pinicola image
Sabitra Pradhan