Phellinus

Notes

Wood decay fungi with at least 16 species in NZ, often difficult to distinguish in field with microscopic features most important for diagnosis. Fruiting body varies in different species from wood-hard brackets to thin, hard crusts, always brown, and with lower surface of pores. Some species are annual, others perennial. Common on wood of many different kinds of tree. Some bracket-shaped species are easily confused at a distance with Ganoderma species, although lower surface of Phellinus species is never white and never with brown spore deposit beneath or on top of fruiting body. The hoof-shaped fruiting bodies of P. robustus make this the most distinctive species of Phellinus
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Name Image Google
Images NZFungi Entry

Phellinus robustus

This is the easiest Phellinus species to distinguish as fruiting bodies are shaped like a hoof (ungulate), perennial, dark brown, usually concentrically ridged, often solitary, to 30 cm across, and sometimes cracking vertically when old. Common
See other photos for Phellinus robustus at Google Images See details for Phellinus robustus at the nzfungi website