Laetiporus

2025-10-17T16:42:43Z

2600:1000:B167:E86F:4CA4:B85A:A98B:41B5: Fixed incorrect name of “silly shelf” to “sulphur shelf”

{{short description|Genus of edible mushrooms}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Chicken of the woods|Hen-of-the-woods}}
{{refimprove |date=July 2023}}

{{Automatic taxobox
| name =
| image = Laetiporus sulphureus JPG01.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Laetiporus sulphureus]]'' in [[Belgium]]
| taxon = Laetiporus
| authority = [[William Alphonso Murrill|Murr.]] (1904)
| type_species = ''Laetiporus speciosus''
| type_species_authority = Battarra ex Murrill (1904)
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
}}

'''''Laetiporus''''' is a [[genus]] of [[edible mushroom]]s found throughout much of the world. Some species, especially ''[[Laetiporus sulphureus]]'', are [[common name|commonly]] known as '''sulphur shelf''', '''chicken of the woods''', the '''chicken mushroom''', or the '''chicken fungus''' because it is often described as tasting like and having a texture similar to that of [[chicken as food|chicken]].

==Description==
[[File:Chicken of the woods Fungus JEG7298 Jegan.JPG|thumb|''Laetiporus sp.'' from Anamalai Hills, Southern Western Ghats, India]]

Individual "shelves" range from {{convert|5|to|25|cm|6=0|abbr=off}} across. These shelves are made up of many tiny tubular filaments (hyphae). The mushroom grows in large [[bracket fungus|brackets]]; some have been found that weigh over 45 kilograms (100 pounds).

Young fruiting bodies are characterized by a moist, rubbery, [[sulfur|sulphur]]-yellow to orange body sometimes with bright orange tips. Older brackets become pale and brittle almost chalk-like, mildly pungent, and are often dotted with beetle or slug/woodlouse holes.

The name "chicken of the woods" is not to be confused with another edible [[polypore]], ''Maitake'' (''[[Grifola frondosa]]'') known as "hen of the woods/rams head” or with ''[[Lyophyllum decastes]]'', known as the "fried chicken mushroom".

==Taxonomy==

=== Phylogeny ===
[[File:Laetiporus cincinnatus 14060.jpg|thumb|''[[Laetiporus cincinnatus|L. cincinnatus]]'', [[Ohio]]]]

[[Phylogenetic]] analyses of [[internal transcribed spacer|ITS]], nuclear large subunit and mitochondrial small subunit [[Ribosomal DNA|rDNA]] sequences from a variety of North American species have delineated five distinct [[cladistics|clades]] within the core ''Laetiporus'' clade:<ref name="pmid18751549" />
*Conifericola clade: contains species that live on [[conifer]]s, such as ''[[Laetiporus conifericola|L. conifericola]]'' and ''[[Laetiporus huroniensis|L. huroniensis]]''. All of the other tested species grow on [[angiosperm]]s.
*Cincinnatus clade: contains ''[[Laetiporus cincinnatus|L. cincinnatus]].''
*Sulphureus clade I: contains white-pored ''[[Laetiporus sulphureus|L. sulphureus]]'' isolates.
*Sulphureus clade II: contains yellow-pored ''L. sulphureus'' isolates.
*Gilbertsonii clade: contains ''[[Laetiporus gilbertsonii|L. gilbertsonii]]'' and unidentified Caribbean isolates.

In addition, phylogenetic clades have been identified from [[Japan]], [[Hawaii]], [[South America]], [[Europe]], and [[South Africa]].<ref name="banik10" />

=== Species ===
*''[[Laetiporus ailaoshanensis]]''<ref name="song2014" /> B.K.Cui & J.Song (2014)
*''[[Laetiporus baudonii]]'' (Pat.) Ryvarden (1991)
*''[[Laetiporus caribensis]]'' Banik & D.L.Lindner (2012)
*''[[Laetiporus cincinnatus]]'' (Morgan) Burds., Banik & T.J.Volk (1998)
*''[[Laetiporus conifericola]]'' Burds. & Banik (2001)
*''[[Laetiporus cremeiporus]]'' Y.Ota & T.Hatt. (2010)
*''[[Laetiporus discolor]]'' (Klotzsch) Corner (1984)
*''[[Laetiporus flos-musae]]'' Overeem (1927)
*''[[Laetiporus gilbertsonii]]'' Burds. (2001)
*''[[Laetiporus huroniensis]]'' Burds. & Banik (2001)
*''[[Laetiporus miniatus]]'' (P.Karst.) Overeem (1925)
*''[[Laetiporus montanus]]'' Černý ex Tomšovský & Jankovský (2009)
*''[[Laetiporus persicinus]]'' (Berk. & M.A.Curtis) Gilb. (1981)
*''[[Laetiporus portentosus]]'' (Berk.) Rajchenb. (1995)
*''[[Laetiporus squalidus]]'' R.M.Pires, Motato-Vásq. & Gugliotta (2016)<ref name="Pires et al. 2016" />
*''[[Laetiporus sulphureus]]'' (Bull.) Murrill (1920)
*''[[Laetiporus versisporus]]'' (Lloyd) Imazeki (1943) 
*''[[Laetiporus zonatus]]''<ref name="song2014" /> B.K.Cui & J.Song (2014)

=== Etymology ===
The name ''Laetiporus'' means "with bright pores".<ref name="field">{{cite book |author=Smith, Alexander H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYI4f6fqrfkC&pg=RA1-PA63 |title=The Mushroom Hunter's Field Guide |author2=Smith Weber, Nancy |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-472-85610-7 |page=64 |author-link=Alexander H. Smith}}</ref>

== Distribution and habitat ==
The sulphur shelf mushroom is most commonly found on wounds of trees, mostly [[oak]], though it is also frequently found on [[eucalyptus]], [[Taxus|yew]], [[Castanea sativa|sweet chestnut]], and [[salix|willow]], as well as [[conifer]]s in some species. ''Laetiporus'' species are [[parasitic]] and produce brown rot in the host on which they grow.

It sometimes comes back year after year when the weather suits its sporulation preferences. From late spring to early autumn, the sulphur shelf thrives. This fungus causes a [[wood-decay fungus|brown cubical rot]] and embrittlement which in later stages ends in the collapse of the host tree, as it can no longer flex and bend in the wind.{{Citation needed|date=July 2014}}

[[File:Chicken of the Woods Laetiporus sulphureus.jpg|thumb|''L. cincinnatus'' in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York in October 2012]]

==Uses==
The mushroom can be prepared in most ways that one can prepare [[chicken meat]]. It can also be used as a substitute for chicken in a [[vegetarian]] diet. Additionally, it can be frozen for long periods of time and retain its edibility. In certain parts of [[Germany]] and [[North America]], it is considered a delicacy.

[[File:Laetiporus sulphureus dish 2010 G1.jpg|thumb|right|''L. sulphureus'' prepared dish]]

In some cases eating the mushroom "causes mild reactions ... for example, 'swollen lips' or in rare cases nausea, vomiting, dizziness and disorientation" to those who are sensitive.<ref name=beug/> This is believed to be due to a number of factors that include allergies to the mushroom's protein or toxins which are only somewhat stable at high temperatures. As such, many field guides{{Which|date=February 2020}} request that those who eat ''Laetiporus'' exercise caution by only eating fresh, young brackets and begin with small quantities to see how well it sits in their stomach.

''L. sulphureus'' has a potent ability to inhibit staph bacteria (''[[Staphylococcus aureus]]''), as well as moderate ability to inhibit the growth of ''[[Bacillus subtilis]]''.<ref name="pmid = 11204765"/>

==See also==
* [[List of meat substitutes]]

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

<ref name=beug>{{cite web |url=http://academic.evergreen.edu/projects/mushrooms/phm/s66.htm |title=Poisonous and hallucinogenic mushrooms |author=Michael W. Beug |access-date=Feb 21, 2013 |archive-date=September 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922060130/http://academic.evergreen.edu/projects/mushrooms/phm/s66.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name="pmid18751549">{{cite journal |author1=Lindner, D.L. |author2=Banik, M.T. |title=Molecular phylogeny of ''Laetiporus'' and other brown rot polypore genera in North America |journal=Mycologia |volume=100 |issue=3 |pages=417–430 |year=2008 |pmid=18751549 |doi=10.3852/07-124R2 |s2cid=25173644 }}</ref>

<ref name=banik10>{{cite journal |title=Relationships among North American and Japanese ''Laetiporus'' isolates inferred from molecular phylogenetics and single-spore incompatibility reactions| journal=Mycologia |year=2010 |volume=102 |pages=911–917 |doi=10.3852/09-044| author1=Banik, Mark T. |author2=Lindner, Daniel L. |author3=Ota, Yuko |author4=Hattori, Tsutomu |issue=4 |pmid=20648757| s2cid=9711234 }}</ref>

<ref name="Pires et al. 2016">{{cite journal |author1=Pires, Ricardo Matheus |author2=Motato-Vásquez, Viviana |author3=de Mello Gugliotta, Adriana |year=2016 |title=A new species of ''Laetiporus'' (Basidiomycota) and occurrence of ''L. gilbertsonii'' Burds. in Brazil |journal=Nova Hedwigia |volume=102 |issue=3–4 |pages=477–490 |doi=10.1127/nova_hedwigia/2016/0320}}</ref>

<ref name="pmid = 11204765">{{Cite journal|vauthors=Suay I, Arenal F, Asensio FJ, Basilio A, Cabello MA, Díez MT, García JB, del Val AG, Gorrochategui J, Hernández P, Peláez F, Vicente MF | title = Screening of basidiomycetes for antimicrobial activities| journal = Antonie van Leeuwenhoek| volume = 78| issue = 2| pages = 129–139 |date=Aug 2000| doi = 10.1023/A:1026552024021| pmid = 11204765| s2cid = 23654559}}</ref>

<ref name=song2014>{{cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Jie |last2=Chen |first2=yuanyuan |last3=Cui |first3=Baokai |title=Morphological and molecular evidence for two new species of ''Laetiporus'' (Basidiomycota, Polyporales) from southwestern China |journal=Mycologia | volume=106 |issue=5 |year=2014 |pages=1039–1050 |doi=10.3852/13-402 |pmid=24987130|s2cid=22823127 }}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Laetiporus}}
* [http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomchickens.html Mushroom-Collecting.com - ''Laetiporus'']

{{Taxonbar|from=Q11158661}}

[[Category:Laetiporus|*]]
[[Category:Wood-decay fungi]]
[[Category:Edible fungi]]
[[Category:Meat substitutes]]
[[Category:Polyporales genera]]
[[Category:Taxa named by William Alphonso Murrill]]
[[Category:Taxa described in 1904]]
[[Category:Fungi used for fiber dyes]]

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Laetiporus