Sujan Singh

A re-examination of Fomes lignosus and Polyporus zonalis

Forms lignosus (Klotzsch) Bres. and Polyporus zonalis Berk., both occurring parasitically and saprophytically, are described from sporophores and cultures. F. lignosus is orange-red on the upper surface with orange-yellow margin and orange-red pore tubes fading towards the context. In P. zonalis the surface is pale to pinkish with white pore tubes. The presence of mucronate cystidia in the sporophore and of fibre hyphae and conidia in cultures distinguishes F. lignosus from P. zonalis in which they are absent. The latter, however, develops incrusted cystidia in the sporophore and clamped hyphae and acanthophyses in culture, all absent from F. lignosus.