Fomitopsis cajanderi

 

Description:   Fomitopsis cajanderi is a perennial polypore, distinguishable by a rosy pink colored margin and underbelly that contrasts an otherwise typical brown of conks’ upper surface.  It causes brown cubical rot in its host.  In the early stages of decay, the wood develops a faint brownish or yellow-brown stain, while more advanced stages of decay appear as soft, irregular, yellowish or reddish-brown cubes. Thin, white or faintly rose-colored mycelial felts may develop in the cracks between the cubes (Medicinal Mushrooms).

 

Identification: Fruiting bodies average 4-10 cm across the shelf-like growth form, and can grow as a single cap, or fuse with other caps laterally.

 

Hosts:  Conifers; In Western North America, F. cajanderi is often found on Douglas- fir.

 

Distribution:  Widespread.  North American conifer forests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Arora, David. Mushrooms Demystified. New York. Ten Speed Press, 1979.

Medicinal Mushrooms. http://healing-mushrooms.net/archives/fomitopsis-cajanderi.html