Ganoderma ID Hints please

[RobSutton]

Hi all

I got these as far as Ganoderma but lost my way a bit then as none of the books show any that are quite as black as these.

They were both growing at the foot of beech trees, cap was about 15cm across. I couldn't see any spore deposits but then it had been raining quite heavily which is probably the reason the first is so glossy. There seemed to be no distinct smell and as there were only these two in the area I didn't collect any and didn't examine a cross section.

So firstly have I got the right genus and then what should I be looking at to take them down to species.









As always any help much appreciated.

Yours

[mykonik]

Originally Posted by RobSutton

Hi all

I got these as far as Ganoderma but lost my way a bit then as none of the books show any that are quite as black as these.

They were both growing at the foot of beech trees, cap was about 15cm across. I couldn't see any spore deposits but then it had been raining quite heavily which is probably the reason the first is so glossy. There seemed to be no distinct smell and as there were only these two in the area I didn't collect any and didn't examine a cross section.

So firstly have I got the right genus and then what should I be looking at to take them down to species.









As always any help much appreciated.

Yours

Hi Rob - it's probably Ganoderma australe (= G. adspersum) - the grey colour is due to the fact that the basidiome is wet - the vast numbers of spores that get layered on the surface get temporarily washed off and the over-hydration after rain makes it go this colour.

There is no really accurate way to tell G. australe and G. applanatum apart macroscopically - one needs to compare the spores !

Nick

[RobSutton]

Thanks Nick (again)

I can see it's about time I got myself sorted out with a decent microscope!

Yours