Macroscopic characters | shape | Applanate; sessile to centrally or laterally stipitate |
size | 15 cm or more broad |
texture | Tough, corky to nearly woody |
pileus | Dark reddish brown; varnish-like crust; glabrous; often brown from spore deposit |
stipe | If present with a reddish brown varnish-like crust |
context | Creamy white; becoming dark purple with age; zonate; up to 3cm thick at base |
pore surface | Creamy white; becoming light buff; staining dark purple-brown on bruising |
pores | Circular to angular; 4-5 per mm |
tube layer(s) | Purple-brown; distinct from context; up to 1cm thick |
Microscopic characters | hyphal system | Dimitic; generative and skeletal hyphae |
clamp connections | Generative hyphae with clamps |
sterile elements | Pilocystidia thick-walled, clavate |
basidiospores | Ellipsoid; 9-12 x 5.5-8 µm |
Habitat characters | substrate/host | Living trees of numerous hardwood genera; continuing fruiting on dead trees and stumps |
seasonality | Annual |
type of decay | White rot and butt rot of living native hardwoods; trees and shrubs |
range | Widely distributed in U.S hardwood forest types; in Southern, Gulf Coast, and Southwest regions |
Notes | Considered a species complex awaiting genetic and molecular analysis. |
References | Gilbertson & Ryvarden, 1986; Grand & Vernia, 2005A; Overholts, 1953 |