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PANUS
LENTINUS LEPIDEUS Fr. Edible
Figures 303, 304, page 196
PILEUS 2-6 in. broad, tough to leathery, at first hemispherical or convex
with margin incurved, expanding to plane or nearly so, dry, whitish to dingy
yellowish or drab brownish buff, decorated, especially on the disk, with brown
appressed spot-like or triangular scales arranged more or less concentrically,
the entire surface usually at length becoming areolate or subscaly. flesh
white, firm to tough, becoming hard when old and dry, very thick on the disk.
LAMELLAE variable in attachment, usually sinuate at the stipe and decurrent
by narrow fines, broad, close to subdistant, white to dingy yellowish, edges
saw-toothed, stipe stout, 1 1/2-4 in. long, )4-l in. thick, tapering toward the
base, often more or less excentric and curved, especially if growing from the
sides of stumps, etc., dry, sofid, very hard and tough, white, browning in age,
surface varying from nearly smooth to conspicuously scaly, sometimes with
brown patches similar to those on the pileus. veil membranous, covering
the lamellae in young stages, leaving an annular ridge on the apex of the stipe
or often disappearing entirely in age. spores smooth, white, long-ellipsoid,
many sfightly irregular in shape, 9-12 X 4-5.5 /x-
Sofitary or in clusters of 2 or 3, on timbers, railway ties, fence posts,
stumps, etc., usually on conifer wood, common. May-Sept.
Although this species is reported to be edible when young, it soon be-
comes so tough and woody that it is of no value. It is often found growing in
dry situations such as on railway ties or old timbers and it sometimes causes
serious rotting of the wood.
Several other species are fairly common. L. tigrinus Fr. is a large, scaly,
deeply umbificate species that is sometimes much deformed. L. cochleatus Fr.
usually grows in clusters with the stipes confluent and deeply furrowed. L. vul-
pinus Fr. grows in shelving clusters without stipes, and is remarkable for the
very rough, coarsely hairy surface of the pileus. L. haematopus Berk, is a small
species with a short blood-red stipe.
PANUS
The species of Panus occur on wood and have white spores, and the stipes
are excentric or lateral or sometimes lacking. They differ from Pleurotus in
being of tough consistency, more or less reviving when moistened, but some
species might readily be mistaken for a Pleurotus. The consistency is similar to
Lentinus but in Panus the edges of the lamellae are entire and even, whereas in
Lentinus they are serrate-torn. Panus species are too tough to be of much value
as food although some have been used to flavor soups and gravies.
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