Pycnoporellus alboluteus (Ellis & Everh.) Kotl. & Pouz.
Ceska Mycol. 17: 174. 1963.

Common Name: none

Synonym: Phaeolus albotueus (Ellis & Everh.) Pilát

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body annual, sessile, effused-reflexed, shelving, up to 15.0 cm in length, up to 3.0 cm in width; upper surface very thin, pale tawny-buff to apricot orange, covered with appressed hairs, reddening in KOH; odor pleasant, slightly fragrant; taste untried.

• Hymenophore

  Pores 1-2 mm in diameter, round, elongate, to angular, the mouths becoming torn, often tooth-like in age; tube layer up to 7.0 cm thick, the surface apricot orange, reddening in KOH.

• Spores

  Spores 9-13 x 3.0-4.0 µm, narrowly oblong-cylindrical in face-view, slightly allantoid in profile, smooth, thin-walled, hilar appendage conspicuous, inamyloid; spore deposit not seen.

• Habitat

  Mostly solitary on logs of montane conifers; fruiting in the spring after snow-melt; dried fruiting bodies persisting into mid-summer; occasional.

• Edibility

  Inedible.

• Comments

  Pycnoporellus alboluteus is a distinctive and conspicuous snowbank species recognized by a buff-orange, fruiting body and pores that become tooth-like in age. It shares its preference for conifer wood near melting snowbanks with another often abundant polypore, Oligoporus leucospongia. The latter is distinctive with a whitish, cottony upper surface that partially encloses the pore layer.

• References

  Gilbertson, R. L. & Ryvarden, L. (1987). North American Polypores, vol. 2. Fungiflora: Oslo, Norway. 452 p.
  Overholts, L.O. (1967). The Polyporaceae of the United States, Alaska, and Canada. University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MN. 466 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Pycnoporellus alboluteus (CP)
  • Mushroom Observer: Pycnoporellus alboluteus (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 571 (D) [as Phaeolus albotueus]
  • Phillips: p. 260 (D & CP)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)