S (oi
POLYPORUS ABIETINUS.
POLYPORUS abietinus ; pileo resupinato demum reflexo tenui coriaceo villoso albido obscure zonato,
poris irregulariter sinuato-dentatis subviolaceis. Grev.
POLYPORUS abietinus. Fries Syst. Mycol. vol. 1. p. 370. Grey. Fl. Edin. ined.
BOLETUS abietinus. Dicks. Crypt. Brit. fase . 3. af. 9 - f 9 • Pers. Obs. Mycol. vol. 1. p. 24. Syn.
Fung. p. 541. Alb. et Schzo. Conspect. Fung. Nisk. p. 254. With. Bot. Arr. ed. 6.
vol. 4. p . 396. Decand. Fl. Fr. vol. 6. p. 40. Purt. Midi. Fl. vol. 3. p. 242. t. 13.
BOLETUS purpurascens. Pers. Obs. Mycol. fa se . 1. p. 24.
BOLETUS purpurascens. Decand. Fl. Fr. vol. 6. p. 41. (not of Pers.)
BOLETUS decipiens. Liljebl. (fid. Fries.)
BOLETUS incarnatus. Sêhum. Scell. p. 391. Hornnem. Fl. Dan. t. 1298.
AGARICUS decipiens. Wïlld. Bot. Mag. 4. p. 12. t. 2 . f . 5.
HYDNUM parasiticum. Linn.Sp. PI. 1648. Pentagnce Bot. vol. 5. p. 2124.
HYDNUM decipiens. Schrad. Spic.p. 180. Decand. Fl. Fr. vol. 2. p. 112. Ejusd. Syn.p. 23.
SYSTROTREMA violaceutn. Pers. Syn. Fung. p. 551.
C lass a n d O r d e r . CRYPTOGAMIA FUNGI.
[N a t u r a l O r d e r . FUNGI, Juss., Decand, Hook., Grev.]
G e n . C h a r . Hymenium cum p ile i su bstantia homogeneum e t concretum, poris subrotundis, dissepimentis tenui-
b us simplicibus in structum. Pileus subcarnosus vel suberosus, plerumque subsessilis, su bstantia fibrosa, sicca*
Velum nullum. Fries.
G e n . C h a r . Hymenium (fructiferous portion) o f th e same substance as the pileus, n o t separating from it, furnished
with roundish pores, and thin simple dissepiments. Pileus somewhat fleshy o r corky, generally n e arly
sessile, th e substance fibrous a n d d ry .' Veil none.
P il e u s coriaceus, conflu.ens, tenuis, primum resupinatus,
demum reflexus, duas vel tres uncias latus, albo-
cinerascens, zonatus, villosus, margine ssepissime
undulatus.
P o r i ju n io re s subrotundati, integri, demum dentati
atq u e irregulariter la c e ra ti; Substantia membra-
nacea, te n u is ; Co lo r pallide purpurascens, sicci-
ta te magis fiiscescens.
S e m in a minutissima, pellucida, alba.
P il e u s coriaceous, confluent, thin, a t first resupinate,
afterwards reflexed, two o r three inches broad,
o f a whitish grey colour, marked with zones o r
concentric circles, villose, th e margin often
waved.
P ore s , th e younger ones roundish, en tire, a t length
toothed a t th e margin, and irregularly lacerated ;
Substance membranaceous, th in ; Colour pale
purplish, when d ry becoming brownish.
Spo r u l e s very minute, pellucid, white.
Fig. I, 2. Plants, natural size. Fig. 3. The mode of growth when the plant occurs on a horizontal surface,
as beneath prostrate trunks of trees. Fig. 4. A mature plant, magnified. Fig. 5. Young plants in different
stages, magnified. Fig. 6. Pores of a mature plant, magnified. Fig. 7. a. The slightly branched filaments observed
in the earliest state of 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 least Jig. a t 5.—
a. and b. highly magnified. Fig. 8. The filaments of old macerated tubes, highly magnified. Fig. 9. Seeds or
sporules ditto, which do not appear to be numerous.
The great change of form which the pores of this species undergo in the course of 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 fact
is, that Persoon has described it in his Synopsis Fungorum, both as a Boletus and a Systotrema. Under the specific
name of decipiens it has been alternately referred to Agarieus, Hydnum, and Boletus. Decandolle, in the
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 purpurascens of Persoon
as a synonym. I t is however not a little singular, and illustrative of the Proteus character of the pores of this
plant, that in the species immediately following, considered new, and named by him purpurascens, he should describe
our 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 abietinus, 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 first
traces of pores begin to make their appearance, of a beautiful pink or purplish colour ; these are at their commencement
nothing more than shallow cells of a roundish form ; they quickly change, become irregular, one-eighth
of an inch in depth, and somewhat confluent. Many are not unfrequently divided at half their depth. When
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 specimens, they are
more like lamellar processes arising from the pileus than tubes or pores ; but in most instances they resemble
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 plant,
probably the result of exposure to a hot sun.
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 surface white, villose,
or rather cottony, and marked with a few somewhat depressed zones.
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 t frequently grows singly and of a round form, but is often confluent, and then covering a space of some inches
wide by a foot in length. When confluent, however, the determination to a circular form is perceptible in the individuals
forming the general mass. Its duration is at most six months.
This plant is found in the autumn, winter, and spring months, on various species of Fir in a state of decay, particularly
on dead stems of Pihus L arix and P.sylvestris, both of England and Scotland. Mr. Greville speaks of
it as common about Edinburgh, and my friends Dr. Rennie and Mr. Scoular find it about Glasgow.
For all the above synonyms and descriptions, as well as for the exquisite drawing from which the plate was engraved,
I am indebted to R. K. Greville, Esq.