POLYPORUS HISPIDUS. HISPID POLYPORUS.
POLYPORUS hispidus; pileo dimidiato magno.crassovillosissimoferrugineodemum nigricante, intus
carnoso fibroso croceo-ferrugineo, poris marginibus pallidis saspe fimbriatis. Grev.
POLYPORUS hispidus. Fries Syst. Mycol. vol. 1. p. 362. Grev. Scot. Crypt. FI. no. 2. ejusd.
FI. Edin. ined.
BOLETUS hispidus. Bull. p. 351. tab. 49S, 410. Pers. Syn. Fungi, p. 526. W ith . Bot. A rr. ed. 4.
vol. 4. p. 324. Albert, et Schwein. Cpnsp. Fung. p. 248. Bolton Fung. tab. ]6 l.
Decand. Ft. Fr. ed. 3. vol. 2. p. 120. Syn. PL p. 24. Merat Nouv. FI. des Env.
de Paris, vol. 1. p. 42. Gray's Nat. A rr. vol. 1. p. 640.
BOLETUS spongiosus. Lightf. Scot. p. 1033. Hook. FI. Scot. P . II. p. 27.
BOLETUS villosus. Huds. Angl. p. 626.
BOLETUS hirsutus. Scop. Cam. vol. 2. p. 468.
BOLETUS velutinus. Sow. Engl. Fungi, t. 345. (not Pers.) Relh. Cant. ed. 3. p. 549- Purt.
Midi. FI. vol. 2. p. 972. and vol. 3. p. 447.
C lass a n d O r d e r . CRYPTOGAMIA FUNGI.
[N a t u r a l O r d e r . F U N G I , Juss., Decand., Hook., Grew.]
G e n . C h a r . Hymenium cum pilei substantia homogeneum e t concretum, poris subrotundis, dissepimentis
tenuibus simplicibus instructum. 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, an d their simple dissepiments. Pileus somewhat fleshy o r corky, generally nearly
sessile, the substance fibrous an d dry. Veil none.
P l a n t a magna, spongiosa, valde aquosa, ad truncos ar-
borum proveniens, d iametro trunci sæpe latior.
P il e u s omnino sessilis, rotundatus, crassus, aliquando
sublobatus, convéxus a u t plano-convexus, villo
denso subrigido obtectus ; ferrugineus vel intense
fuscus, in ætate nigerrimus, margine semper pal-
lidiore, paululum elevato, incrassato, inflexo.
Magnitudine pileus valde variât, sed unum pedem
latitudine e t amplius fréquenter attingit.
C a ito spongiosa, submollis, a quosa, fibrosa, ferruginea.
P ort subrotundi, longissimi, exigui, æquales, fusci, superficie
pallidi, fimbriati.
S em in a flava, minutissima, numerosa.
P l a n t large, spongy, very watery, growing upon the
trunks o f trees, and frequently broader th an the
d iameter o f the trunk.
P il e u s entirely sessile, roundish, thick, sometimes
slightly lobed, convex o r plano-convex, covered
with dense sub-rigid h a irs ; colour ferruginous or
a. deep brown, very black in age, th e margin a lways
paler, and th e re a little elevated, thickened
an d inflexed. In size th e pileus varies remarkably,
b u t it frequently a ttains to a foot an d even
more in diameter.
F l e sh spongy, softish, w atery, fibrous-and ferruginous.
P or e s roundish, very long, but slender, equal, brown,
paler an d fimbriated on th e surface.
S e ed s yellow, very minute, numerous.
Fig. 1. Plant—nat. size. Fig. 2. Part of the section of a plant— nat. size. Fig. 3. Magnified tubes. Fig. 4. The
fimbriated termination of the tubes very highly magnified, precisely the same as the filaments composing the
earliest tubes. Fig. 5. Filaments of very old tubes macerated; intermixed with seeds—nat. size. Fig. 6. Filaments
taken from the heart of an old plant, remarkable for being much thicker than any of the others, and for
being occasionally branched at right angles—nat. size. Fig. 7. Filaments forming the villous surface of the
pileus; more slender than any of the others—nat. size. Fig. .8. Seeds—nat. size.
When a genus, such as Boletus, becomes overloaded with species, it is most desirable that it should be divided,
if characters of sufficient importance can be found on which to establish other genera. The excellent Fries, in his
Systema Mycologicum, has formed the genus Polyporus of those Boleti which are mostly sessile and have the pileus
of the same substance as the hymenium and incorporated with it, whilst the pores are connected together by the
substance which forms them. In the true Boletus, as it now stands, the hymenium is formed of distinct tubes,
separable from each other and from the pileus. It has too a central stipes. Thus Boletus lucidus, B . squamosus,
B . imbricatus, and B . sulphureus of this work, belong to the genus Polyporus : whilst Boletus aurantiacus,
B . edulis, B . lut eus, and others with the same peculiar habits and qualities, will be alone retained in the genus
Boletus. I t is no small circumstance in favour o f this arrangement, that Mr. Greville, in his admirable Scottish
Cryptogamie Flora, has thought proper to adopt it.
The present individual is one of the most striking of the division or genus Polyporus, remarkable for its rich ferruginous
colour, the shaggy velvety appearance of its upper surface, and for the depth of its pores beneath. “ Its
substance,” as Mr. Greville well remarks, “ is within fibrous and coriaceous, yet soft and full of water, which may
be pressed out as from a sponge ; and when a section is made in the direction of the fibres, a series of longitudinal
lines curved towards the margin are very remarkable, which led Bolton to the remark, that when fresh it easily
tears in slips from the centre to the margin, but cuts not without difficulty.”
The appended figure, from which the annexed engraving was taken, was kindly communicated by Mr. Greville,
to whom also I am indebted for much of the above description. The loose threads attached beneath the upper
figure, are those of a spider, upon which the seeds or sporules from the hymenium have fallen, giving them the
appearance there represented.
P . hispidus grows upon the living trunks of ash, oak, and sycamore trees ; common indeed in many parts of
England, but rare, according to Mr. Greville, in Scotland. The specimens here figured were found by Mr. Greville
in the grounds of David Falconer, Esq., Carlo'wrie, near Edinburgh. I t is in perfection during the summer
and autunjn.
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