Byssomerulius
incarnatus
(Schwein.) Gilb.
- Name:
- coral-pink merulius
- Etymology:
- Epithet = crimson (flesh-colored). Genus = byssus + merulius.
- Fruitbody:
- Annual merulioid or stereoid fungus. Caps pinkish, up to 7 cm wide. Underside wrinkled, whitish. Spore print white.
- Similar species:
- It has a well developed cap that is coral pink unlike Merulius tremellosus (Phlebia), which is whitish above and pinkish below.
- Ecology:
- Saprobe on dead hardwoods, causing a white rot. Has some kind of association with Stereum.
- Phenology:
- Found in April, August, and September for the known Chicago Region records. Elsewhere it is mostly found in summer and fall, and into the winter to the south.
- Biogeography:
- Eastern U.S.A., Texas, Arizona, Mexico. There are records for central and southern Illinois. Chicago seems to be at the north-western edge of the range for this species.
- Chicago Region status:
- Previously rare, observations about 5 years apart, to now uncommon, found three years in a row with four locations in 2018. The closest historic collection online MycoPortal is from 1919 in Central Indiana. There are no historic records by Harper or Moffatt near Chicago.
- Specimens examined:
- This characteristic species has several collections from oak woodlands of Cook County, one from DuPage County, Illinois, and two from NW Indiana (Porter and Lake Counties).
- Nomenclature:
-
-
Byssomerulius
incarnatus
(Schwein.) Gilb.,
Fungi that Decay Ponderosa Pine: 45 (1974)
- ≡ Basionym:
Merulius
incarnatus
Schwein.,
Schr. naturf. Ges. Leipzig 1: 92 (1822)
- ≡
Phlebia
incarnata
(Schwein.) Nakasone & Burds.,
Mycotaxon 21: 245 (1984)
- Type:
- On Wood, Salem, North Carolina.
- Taxonomy:
- Seems unsettled in its taxonomic placement. Recent works treat it as Phlebia incarnata but I noticed in July 2014 that it went back in Byssomerulius. I don't know why its transfer to Phlebia with the other Merulius species did not stick. I have not seen it in a molecular phylogeny. There should be an obvious difference between these genera since Phlebia is in the family Meruliaceae, while Byssomerulius is in the Irpicaceae (recently in Phanerochaetaceae).
- Description links:
-
Michael Kuo ;
Gary Emberger ;
The Mushroom Farm
- Related links:
-
Fungus Fact Friday by Thomas Roehl ;
Wikipedia
- Records online:
-
Mushroom Observer ;
iNaturalist ; MycoPortal (synonyms not linked):
B. incarnatus,
P. incarnata,
P. incarnatus.
- Taxon links:
- 310027
MycoBank ;
Index Fungorum ;
Species Fungorum
