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PANUS
consistency and velvety, hairy pilei are distinctive. It is said to be edible but it is
not recommended because of its tough consistency.
PANUS STIPTICUS Fr. Poisonous
Figures 278, 279, 280, 281, page 176
piLEUS i^-l 14 iri- broad, tough and leathery, reviving when moistened,
variable in shape, mostly kidney-shaped to shell-shaped, convex, with a sHght
depression toward the lateral stipe, pale cinnamon-buff, fading, surface very
minutely scurfy, margin entire or irregularly lobed. flesh leathery, taste very
astringent, disagreeable, lamellae cinnamon color, moderately broad, close to
crowded, interveined, becoming tough when dry, ending in an even Hne at the
stipe. STIPE a lateral continuation of the pileus, somewhat flattened, short and
stubby, scarcely visible from above but distinct from below, paler than the
pileus, soHd, tough, surface somewhat mealy, spores minute, smooth, white,
oblong, 4-5 X 2 /i.
July-Oct.
In crowded, overlapping, shelving clusters, on stumps and logs, common.
Panus stipticus has a very unpleasant taste and is reported to be poisonous.
In addition it is remarkable for its phosphorescent properties. When fresh and
moist the fruiting bodies and myceHum glow in the dark, sometimes producing
a ghostly eff'ect in the woods.
PANUS TORULOSUS Fr. Edible; tough
Figures 315, 316, page 214
PILEUS 1 1/2-4 in. broad, occasionally larger, tough and leathery, plane to
depressed or infundibuliform, pale tan to brownish, tinged violet or reddish
when moist, glabrous, or deHcately tomentose when young, sometimes slightly
scaly near the center, margin inrolled, even, lamellae decurrent, close, narrow,
some forked, pale tan, often tinged violet when moist, stipe y^-\ in. long,
14-% in. thick, short and stout, excentric to lateral or sometimes nearly
central, with a fine violaceous to gray tomentum, solid, tough, spores white,
eUiptical, 5.5-7 X 3-3.5 /x-
Clustered or occasionally sohtary, on old stumps and logs. June-Aug.
Various authors diff'er as to whether or not P. torulosus and P. conchatus
Fr. are distinct. Lange (1935-40) attempts to separate them on the basis of the
habit of growth. He would place the forms with regular pilei and more or less
central stipes in P. torulosus, and the clustered forms with lateral stipes in
P. conchatus. It will probably require cultural studies to determine whether or
not these forms are diff'erent species.
This fungus might be mistaken for a Clitocybe if collected when young and
moist. It is said to be edible, but is too tough to be of much interest from that
standpoint.
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