POLYPORUS ABIETINUS.
POLYPORUS abietinus; pileo resupinato demum reflexo tenui coriaceo villoso albido obscure zonato
pons irregulariter smuato-dentatis subviolaceis. Grev.
POLYPORUS abietinus. • Fries Syst. Mycol. vol. l.p . 370. Grev. Fl. Edin. ined.
BOLETUS abietinus. Dicks-.Crypt. B r i t f a « . 3. t . 9 . f 9. Pers. I I Mycol. m l WÈi Syn'.
S B H I i ? ' “ F,mg. Nisk.p. 354. With. Bot. Arr. cd. 8.
ml. 4. p . S96. Decand. Ft. Fr.rooi. 6. p. 40. Purt. Midi. Ft. ml. 3 . p. 242. f. 1 3 .
BOLETUS purpurascens. Pers. O h . Mycol.fase. l.p . 24.
BOLETUS purpurascens. Decand. Fl. Fr. m l 6. p. 4 1 . (not o f Pers.)
BOLETUS decipiens. LiljeU. (fid. Frigs.)
BOLETUS incarnaties. Schum. Steil. p . 391. Homnm. Fl. Dan. t. 1298'.
AGARICUS decipiens. ÏVilld. Bot. Mag. 4. p. 12 . I. 2 . ƒ 5 .
HYDNUM parasiticum. U rn . Sp. PI. 1648. Pentagnat Bot. ml. 5. p . 2 124 ..
H YDNUM decipiens. Schfad. Spib.p. 18Ó. Decand. Fl. Fr. m l 2. p. 112. Ejusd. Sm n 23
SYSTROTREMA viplaceum. Pers. Syn. Fimg. p . 5 5 1 .
1 Class a fd Ord er . ^ CRYPTOG A'MrA FU N G I.
[Natural Order. FUNGI, Jussi, Decand., Hook., Grec.}
G ïS . Cha r. Hyménium cum pile! substantia homogenëum et concretum, poris subrotundis, dissepimentis tenui-
F c& rndîùm! "m ™ P,;e“ subcamosus vel =“berosus, pleruraque snbsessilis, substantia fibrosa! S M
Gen Cha r Hymemtm (fructiferous portion) of the same substance as the pileus, not separating from it fur-
. Pileus somewhat fleshy or co £ y, g e L X n'ea^
Pileus coriaceus, confluens, tenuis, primum resupinatus,
demum reflexus, duasvel très uncias Iatus, albo-
cinerascens, zonatus,' villosus, margine sæpissime
‘' . i undulatus.
Pori juniores subrotundati, integri, demum dentati
• atque irregulariter lacerati ; Substantia membra-
nacea, tenuis; Color pallide purpurascens, sicci-
tate.magis fuscescens.
Pileus coriaceous, confluent, thin, at first resupinate,
afterwards reflexed, two or three inches broad,
of a whitish grey colour, marked with zones or
concentric circles, villose, the margin often
waved.
Pores, the younger ones roundish, entire, at length
toothed at the margin, and irregularly lacerated ;
Substance membranaceous, thin; Colour pale
purplish, when dry becoming brownish.
Semina minutissima, pellucid a, alba.
Sporules very minute, pellucid, white.
Fig. 1, 2. Plants .natural size Fig. 3. The mode o f growth when the plant occurs on a horizontal sur-
fece, as beneath prostrate trunks of trees. Fig. 4. A mature plant, magnified. Fie 5 Younn niants Î S « .
stag®, magnified. Fig. 6. Pores of a mature plant, magnified. Fig. 7. a. The I gW y branched «lamente ob!
erved in the earliest state o f the plant, particularly when it occurs between the bark and the wood of decaying
trees, b. The filaments when, they first begin to assume a determinate arrangement as in the W Ü I t T S
a. and b. highly magnified. Fig. 8. The filaments o f old macerated tubes, highly magnified Fie- Q Seeds nr
spoiiuTes Yfeo, which do not appear to be numerous. ° J " ° *
The great change of form which the pores of this species undergo in the course o f a-short period, added to a
slight variation in the pileus, has given rise to much uncertainty respecting its genus : a striking proof of this £er
is that Persoon has described it in his Synopsis Fungdnm, both as a Bogtus and a S y s tT Z ° . P Unde f t e specific
name of deapjensit has been alternately referred to Agarims, Hyinum, and Boletus. Decandolle, in die
second volume of the Flore Française, has given it to the public as a Hydnum, and in the supplement, or sixth
volume, describes it a second time as Boletus abietinus, to which he correctly adds Boletus purpuZscens of Persoon
as a synonym It is however not a little singular, and illustrative of the Proteus character of the pores of this
plant, that in considered new, and named by him purpurascens, he should descnl^
onr species a third time, and so minutely and accurately that no doubt can be entertained on the subject.
In the first stage of existence of Polyporus ahetmus, nothing is visible but a minute byssoid tuft, extending its
pure white filaments in a radiating direction. After it has attained the diameter of about half an inch the°fir t
traces of pores begin to make their appearance, of a beautiful pink or purplish colour: these are at their com
mencement nothing more than shallow cells of a roundish form ; they quickly change, become irregular, one-eiuhth
ot an inch in depth, and somewhat confluent. Many are not unfrequently divided at half their denth m Pn
mature, the-pores are brownish in the centre of the larger individuals, but of a pale violet towards the margin of
the pileus, and nothing can be more unequal than the appearance they present, particularly in the centre (for at
the margin they generally preserve the character of true pores). At a first view, in numerous snecimens fliv H I
more like lamellar processes arising from the pileus than tubes or pores; but in I S S Z I M
winding channels, with the remains of divided dissepiments projecting from their sides, thus giving them a dentated
appearance; in short, the whole seems as if it had been lacerated in all directions by a contraction in the niant
probably the result of exposure to a hot sun. J n tue plant>
The pileus in its early state is always adnate, and often retains this character. The upper part of many, however,
becomes reflexed and undulate. The substance is very thin and coriaceous ; the upper surfhee white Villose
or rather cottony, and marked with a few somewhat depressed zon.es.
In decay the whole plant dries up, the pores become reddish brown, and sometimes almost colourless • the white
surface often tinged with dirty green. . i , ^ -.Z- t 5 < 11 g rw s singly and of a round form, but is often confluent, and then covering a space of some inches
dWd.S a/ ■“ W m M i “ "I"“ 1' ll0."'ev?1- the oividuals forming the general mass. Its duration is at modsett esrixm minoantitohns .to a circular form is perceptible in the in-
. Thi| plant is found in the autumn, winter, and spring months, on various snecies of Fir in n cf„ tP „
ticularly on dead stems» of Pinus L ariv and P. sylvestris, both of England and Scotland. Mr. Grevifle speaksTf
it as common about Edinburgh, and my friends Dr. Rennie and Mr. Scoular find it about Glasgow P
I'or all the above synonyms and descriptions, as well as for the exquisite drawing from which the' ü b Wn« m
graved, I am indebted to R. K. Greville, Esq. K . 6 P te vas en'