Polyporales
Encyclopedia
The Polyporales are an order
of fungi in the class
Agaricomycetes
. The order includes some (but not all) polypores as well as many corticioid fungi
and a few agarics (mainly in the genus
Lentinus
). Species
within the order are saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters
. Those of economic importance include several important pathogens of forest and amenity trees and a few species that cause damage by rotting structural timber. Some of the Polyporales are commercially cultivated and marketed for use as food items or in traditional Chinese medicine
.
Basidiomycota
producing basidiocarps (fruit bodies) showing a gymnocarpous mode of development (forming the spore-bearing surface externally). As such, the order included the ten families Brachybasidiaceae
, Corticiaceae
, Clavariaceae
, Cyphellaceae
, Dictyolaceae, Fistulinaceae
, Polyporaceae
, Radulaceae, Tulasnellaceae
, and Vuilleminiaceae
, representing a mix of poroid, corticioid
, cyphelloid
, and clavarioid
fungi.
The order was not widely adopted by Gäumann's contemporaries, most mycologists and reference works preferring to use the catch-all, artificial order Aphyllophorales
for polypores and other "non-gilled fungi". When an attempt was made to introduce a more natural, morphology
-based classification of the fungi in the 1980s and 1990s, the order was still overlooked. A standard 1995 reference work placed most polypores and corticioid fungi in the Ganodermatales, Poriales, and Stereales.
and Meripilaceae
. It also includes polypores in the Ganodermataceae
which were previously assigned to their own separate order, the Ganodermatales, based on their distinctive basidiospore
morphology. Corticioid fungi belonging to the Cystostereaceae
, Meruliaceae
, Phanerochaetaceae
, and Xenasmataceae
are also included, as are the cauliflower fungi in the Sparassidaceae
.
and contains around 1800 species of fungi worldwide. All species in the Polyporales are saprotrophs, most of them wood-rotters. They are therefore typically found on living or moribund trees or on dead attached or fallen wood
.
, Fomitopsis
and Ganoderma
are pathogenic, causing butt and root rot of living trees and consequent losses in forestry plantations. Several species, such as the mine fungus Antrodia vaillantii, can rot and damage structural timber. Some of the Polyporales, notably Ganoderma lucidum (ling-zhi), Grifola frondosa
(maitake), and Trametes versicolor
(yun-zhi), are commercially cultivated and marketed for use in traditional Chinese medicine
.
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
of fungi in the class
Class (biology)
In biological classification, class is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class fitting between phylum and order...
Agaricomycetes
Agaricomycetes
Agaricomycetes is a class of fungi. The taxon is roughly identical to that defined for the Homobasidiomycetes by Hibbett & Thorn, with the inclusion of Auriculariales and Sebacinales. It includes not only mushrooms but also most species placed in the deprecated taxa Gasteromycetes and...
. The order includes some (but not all) polypores as well as many corticioid fungi
Corticioid fungi
The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead attached or fallen branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi...
and a few agarics (mainly in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Lentinus
Lentinus
Lentinus is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. There are 40 species in the genus, which have a widespread distribution, especially in subtropical regions....
). Species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
within the order are saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters
Wood-decay fungus
A wood-decay fungus is a variety of fungus that digests moist wood, causing it to rot. Some wood-decay fungi attack dead wood, such as brown rot, and some, such as Armillaria , are parasitic and colonize living trees. Fungi that not only grow on wood but actually cause it to decay, are called...
. Those of economic importance include several important pathogens of forest and amenity trees and a few species that cause damage by rotting structural timber. Some of the Polyporales are commercially cultivated and marketed for use as food items or in traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
.
History
The order was originally proposed in 1926 by German mycologist Ernst Albert Gäumann to accommodate species within the phylumPhylum
In biology, a phylum The term was coined by Georges Cuvier from Greek φῦλον phylon, "race, stock," related to φυλή phyle, "tribe, clan." is a taxonomic rank below kingdom and above class. "Phylum" is equivalent to the botanical term division....
Basidiomycota
Basidiomycota
Basidiomycota is one of two large phyla that, together with the Ascomycota, comprise the subkingdom Dikarya within the Kingdom Fungi...
producing basidiocarps (fruit bodies) showing a gymnocarpous mode of development (forming the spore-bearing surface externally). As such, the order included the ten families Brachybasidiaceae
Brachybasidiaceae
The Brachybasidiaceae are a family of fungi in the Basidiomycota, Exobasidiales order. Species in the family have a widespread distribution, especially in tropical and temperate regions of the world. Members of the Brachybasidiaceae are plant pathogens that grow on the leaves of plants such as...
, Corticiaceae
Corticiaceae
The Corticiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Corticiales. The family formerly included almost all the corticioid fungi, whether they were related or not, and as such was highly artificial...
, Clavariaceae
Clavariaceae
The Clavariaceae are a family of fungi in the Agaricales order of mushrooms. The family contains 7 genera and 120 species. Collectively, they are commonly known as coral fungi due to their resemblance to aquatic coral, although other vernacular names including antler fungi, finger fungi, worm mold,...
, Cyphellaceae
Cyphellaceae
The Cyphellaceae are a family of fungi in the Agaricales order. The family contains 16 genera and 31 species.-Genera:*Asterocyphella*Campanophyllum*Catilla*Cheimonophyllum*Chondrostereum*Cunninghammyces*Cyphella...
, Dictyolaceae, Fistulinaceae
Fistulinaceae
The Fistulinaceae are a family of fungi, the best known member of which is the Beefsteak fungus Fistulina hepatica. Molecular studies have now shown it to lie within the Agaricales....
, Polyporaceae
Polyporaceae
The Polyporaceae are a family of bracket fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota. The flesh of their fruiting bodies varies from soft to very tough. Most members of this family have their hymenium in vertical pores on the underside of the caps, but some of them have gills The Polyporaceae are a...
, Radulaceae, Tulasnellaceae
Tulasnellaceae
The Tulasnellaceae are a family of fungi in the order Cantharellales. The family comprises mainly effused fungi formerly referred to the "jelly fungi" or heterobasidiomycetes...
, and Vuilleminiaceae
Vuilleminiaceae
The Vuilleminiaceae are a family of fungi in the order Corticiales. The family in its current sense is based on molecular research and contains just three genera of temperate corticioid fungi.-History:...
, representing a mix of poroid, corticioid
Corticioid fungi
The corticioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having effused, smooth basidiocarps that are formed on the undersides of dead attached or fallen branches. They are sometimes colloquially called crust fungi or patch fungi...
, cyphelloid
Cyphelloid fungi
The cyphelloid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota that have disc-, tube-, or cup-shaped basidiocarps , resembling species of discomycetes in the Ascomycota...
, and clavarioid
Clavarioid fungi
The clavarioid fungi are a group of fungi in the Basidiomycota typically having erect, simple or branched basidiocarps that are formed on the ground, on decaying vegetation, or on dead wood. They are colloquially called club fungi and coral fungi...
fungi.
The order was not widely adopted by Gäumann's contemporaries, most mycologists and reference works preferring to use the catch-all, artificial order Aphyllophorales
Aphyllophorales
The Aphyllophorales is an obsolete order of fungi in the Basidiomycota. The order is entirely artificial, bringing together a miscellany of species now grouped among the clavarioid fungi, corticioid fungi, cyphelloid fungi, hydnoid fungi, and poroid fungi....
for polypores and other "non-gilled fungi". When an attempt was made to introduce a more natural, morphology
Morphology (biology)
In biology, morphology is a branch of bioscience dealing with the study of the form and structure of organisms and their specific structural features....
-based classification of the fungi in the 1980s and 1990s, the order was still overlooked. A standard 1995 reference work placed most polypores and corticioid fungi in the Ganodermatales, Poriales, and Stereales.
Current status
Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has resurrected and redefined the Polyporales (also known as the polyporoid clade). Though the precise boundaries of the order and its constituent families are yet to be resolved, it retains the core group of polypores in the family Polyporaceae, with additional species in the FomitopsidaceaeFomitopsidaceae
The Fomitopsidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. Most species are parasitic on woody plants, and tend to cause brown rots.-Genera:Amylocystis —Antrodia —Auriporia —Buglossoporus —Climacocystis —Dacryobolus —...
and Meripilaceae
Meripilaceae
The Meripilaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales.-Genera:*Grifola*Henningsia*Hydnopolyporus*Meripilus*Physisporinus*Rigidoporus...
. It also includes polypores in the Ganodermataceae
Ganodermataceae
The Ganodermataceae are a family of fungi in the Polyporales order....
which were previously assigned to their own separate order, the Ganodermatales, based on their distinctive basidiospore
Basidiospore
A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are produced by specialized fungal cells called basidia. In grills under a cap of one common species in the phylum of...
morphology. Corticioid fungi belonging to the Cystostereaceae
Cystostereaceae
The Cystostereaceae are a family of fungi in the Agaricales order....
, Meruliaceae
Meruliaceae
The Meruliaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. According to a 2008 estimate, the family contains 47 genera and 420 species. The family was formally circumscribed by English mycologist Carleton Rea in...
, Phanerochaetaceae
Phanerochaetaceae
The Phanerochaetaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales.-Genera:*Amethicium*Antrodiella*Australicium*Australohydnum*Byssomerulius*Candelabrochaete*Ceriporia*Ceriporiopsis*Climacodon*Hjortstamia...
, and Xenasmataceae
Xenasmataceae
The Xenasmataceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales.-External links:*...
are also included, as are the cauliflower fungi in the Sparassidaceae
Sparassidaceae
The Sparassidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales.-External links:*...
.
Habitat and distribution
The order is cosmopolitanCosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
and contains around 1800 species of fungi worldwide. All species in the Polyporales are saprotrophs, most of them wood-rotters. They are therefore typically found on living or moribund trees or on dead attached or fallen wood
Coarse woody debris
Coarse woody debris is a term used in English-speaking countries for fallen dead trees and the remains of large branches on the ground in forests. Some prefer the term coarse woody habitat . A dead standing tree is known as a snag and provides many of the same functions as coarse woody debris...
.
Economic importance
Many wood decay fungi in the genera FomesFomes
Fomes is a genus of perennial woody fungi in the family Polyporaceae. Species are typically hoof-shaped . New growth each season is added to the margin, resulting in a downward extension of the hymenium. This often results in a zonate appearance of the upper surface, that is, marked by concentric...
, Fomitopsis
Fomitopsis
Fomitopsis is a genus of bracket fungi in the family Fomitopsidaceae.The name means having the appearance of fomes.-Species:*Fomitopsis cajanderi*Fomitopsis palustris*Fomitopsis pinicola*Fomitopsis rosea*Fomitopsis spraguei...
and Ganoderma
Ganoderma
Ganoderma is a genus of polypore mushrooms which grow on wood and include about 80 species, many from tropical regions. Because of their extensive use in traditional Asian medicines, and their potential in bioremediation, they are a very important genus economically. Ganoderma can be differentiated...
are pathogenic, causing butt and root rot of living trees and consequent losses in forestry plantations. Several species, such as the mine fungus Antrodia vaillantii, can rot and damage structural timber. Some of the Polyporales, notably Ganoderma lucidum (ling-zhi), Grifola frondosa
Grifola frondosa
Grifola frondosa is a polypore mushroom that grows in clusters at the base of trees, particularly oaks. The mushroom is commonly known among English speakers as Hen-of-the-Woods, Ram's Head and Sheep's Head...
(maitake), and Trametes versicolor
Trametes versicolor
Trametes versicolor — formerly known as Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor — is an extremely common polypore mushroom which can be found throughout the world. Versicolor means 'of several colours' and it is true that this mushroom is found in a wide variety of different colours. T...
(yun-zhi), are commercially cultivated and marketed for use in traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine
Traditional Chinese Medicine refers to a broad range of medicine practices sharing common theoretical concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage , exercise , and dietary therapy...
.