Grifola frondosa or Meripilus giganteus ?

[ashgale]

Grifola frondosa or Meripilus giganteus ?

we found this at the base of a half rotten beech tree, and while I think its Meripilus giganteus, my fellow forayer thinks it is Grifola frondosa,

a search of the Gallery and the a to z here, and a google image search has not helped much,
as some of the images, on google especially, seem somewhat dubious,

there is a small bet on who buys the bacon butties on the next outing riding on this


ashgale.

[Ditiola]

Hi
I do not know why you should think this is Grifola frondosa or Meripilus giganteus as these are both stipitate fungi, and there is not sign of any stipe on your specimens. They are clearly resupinate - pileate. I thing the pores are turning grey so most likely it is Bjerkandera adusta. What descriptions are you reading to make your decisions?

Peter

[alge]

I'm super rusty, but I'm pretty certain you've got a bacon butty coming your way.

The location is consistent with Meripilus giganteus, I've seen it put pay to many fine beech trees round here.

The lips (margins) of the brackets are thick, and have that white band (sometimes a bit orangeish) where as the G. frondosa would be thinner and darker at the bracket margin. I also think that G. frondosa tends to be a bit more open and airy between the brackets.

I'm sure someone else will qualify it more elegantly in a moment or two.

Alex

Or in fact already had oops.

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by Ditiola

Hi
I do not know why you should think this is Grifola frondosa or Meripilus giganteus as these are both stipitate fungi, and there is not sign of any stipe on your specimens. They are clearly resupinate - pileate. I thing the pores are turning grey so most likely it is Bjerkandera adusta. What descriptions are you reading to make your decisions?

Peter

Hi Peter,
these were one of several groups around the tree base, and this particular group was about 2 feet across and about 3 feet tall, with the individual bodies were about 6 inch across, and about half an inch thick,
which, i think, makes it unlikely to be Bjerkandrea adusta ?
ashgale.

[ashgale]

Originally Posted by alge

I'm super rusty, but I'm pretty certain you've got a bacon butty coming your way.

The location is consistent with Meripilus giganteus, I've seen it put pay to many fine beech trees round here.

The lips (margins) of the brackets are thick, and have that white band (sometimes a bit orangeish) where as the G. frondosa would be thinner and darker at the bracket margin. I also think that G. frondosa tends to be a bit more open and airy between the brackets.

I'm sure someone else will qualify it more elegantly in a moment or two.

Alex

Or in fact already had oops.

Hi Alex,
you've both got me worried now
and although we were certain it was one or the other, Peters post has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works,
and i was looking forward to that bacon buttie too

ive given the dimensions of the fungi in a reply to Peters post, so hopefully that may help a bit
ashgale.

[Ken Burgess]

I can quite see why this is causing some confusion. It is neither Meripilus nor Grifola and I think the brackets are not right for Bjerkandera adusta either - they seem too thick and not sufficiently grey on the pore surface.

I was tempted to think Bjerkandera fumosa might be a possibility, but the occasional red droplet might suggest, rather, that this is a somewhat pale colour form of Ischnoderma resinosum.

But that is only a suggestion.

Ken

[Ken Burgess]

Originally Posted by ashgale

this particular group was about 2 feet across and about 3 feet tall, with the individual bodies were about 6 inch across, and about half an inch thick, which, i think, makes it unlikely to be Bjerkandrea adusta ?

Your dimensions appeared while I was pondering. Yes, that rules out Bjerkandera adusta, and probably also Bjerkandera fumosa. Although B. fumosa is the larger of the two species, I have not seen it as big as you are indicating for your specimens.

Ken

[fairplay]

I've come across this before several times, it's .........
Bjerkandera giganteus.

Neil.

[ashgale]

not sure if it will help at all, but here are a couple more pics,
the first one is a smaller group of slightly younger ones,
while the second is of an older one,





ashgale.

[Ken Burgess]

Without further characters, such as spore colour and microscopic details I don't think you will get anything more definitive than a best guess. I can't come up with any suggestions other than Ischnoderma resinosum.

Ken