Image of Ganoderma resinaceum Boud. 1889

Description:

Slo.: smolena poloenka - Habitat: Alpine pasture; moderately incline mountain slope; southeast aspect; calcareous, stony, colluvial ground; shallow soil layer; full sun, dry and relatively warm place; exposed to direct rain; average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, elevation 625 m (2.050 feet), alpine phytogeographical region. Substratum: at the base of dead stump of a stand alone, cut down, mostly decorticated Ostrya carpinifolia. Comments: According to keys of genus Ganoderma published in Ryvarden (2014) and Bernicchia (2005) this find fits well to Ganoderma resinaceum. It has distinctly stipitate pileus, continuous, partly shiny and reddish-brown (not dark brown and dull as with Ganoderma applanatum and Ganoderma australe) resinous crust, which first melts and then burns with a yellow flame when heated at the tip of a knife in the flame of a match and a darker line in context just above tube layer. However, some traits not mentioned in the keys pose problems. The context color doesn't seem to correspond well to the descriptions in Ryvarden (2014) and Krieglsteiner (2000) ('pale grayish-brown') and Bernicchia (2005) ('brown, red-brown'). The find was found on dead stump of Ostrya carpinifolia (host species not listed as a possible substrate in the literature available to me) while Ganoderma resinaceum is known from live deciduous trees. Measured spores are slightly too long and too wide in average compared to most published data (the only exception is Ref.: 4). Their width fits better to similar Ganoderma pfeifferi, which is apparently always sessile and never stipitate. Measured spore dimensions actually fit perfectly to Ganoderma carnosum, which is, however, know only from conifers. Also the habitat of the find seems strange. Ganoderma resinaceum is usually found in parks, roadsides, seldom in woods. All this makes my determination uncertain to some extent. Growing solitary; pileus dimensions 10 x 8 cm; oozing reddish droplets when cut, pore layer bruising brown when handled; trama fibrous-corky and very firm, difficult to cut even with a ceramic knife; taste bitter, smell distinctive, pleasant, a kind of mushroomy; SP faint, possibly brown. Spores brown, rough, thick (double) walled. Dimensions: 11.4 [12.2 ; 12.6] 13.5 x 6.9 [7.5 ; 7.8] 8.5 microns; Q = 1.4 [1.6 ; 1.7] 1.8; N = 30; C = 95%; Me = 12.4 x 7.7 microns; Qe = 1.6. Olympus CH20, NEA 100x/1.25, magnification 1.000 x, oil, in water. AmScope MA500 digital camera. Herbarium: Mycotheca and lichen herbarium (LJU-Li) of Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vena pot 2, Ljubljana, Index Herbariorum LJF Ref.: (1) L. Ryvarden, I. Melo, Poroid fungi of Europe, Synopsis Fungorum 31., Fungiflora A/S (2014), p 191. (2) A. Bernicchia, Polyporaceaes l., Fungi Europaei, Vol. 10., Edizioni Candusso (2005), p 238. (3) G.J. Krieglsteiner (Hrsg.), Die Grosspilze Baden-Wrttembergs, Band 1., Ulmer (2000), p 427. (4) J. Breitenbach, F. Kraenzlin, Eds., Fungi of Switzerland, Vol.2. Verlag Mykologia (1986), p 332. (5) S. Buczacki, Collins Fungi Guide, Collins (2012), p 486.