Cerioporus squamosus

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Cerioporus squamosus, synonym Polyporus squamosus, is a basidiomycete bracket fungus, with common names including dryad's saddle and pheasant's back mushroom.<ref name="Spahr2009"/> It has a widespread distribution, being found in Australia, Eurasia, and North America, and it causes a white rot in the heartwood of living and dead hardwood trees.

Taxonomy

The species was first described scientifically by British botanist William Hudson in 1778, who named it Boletus squamosus.<ref name=Hudson1778/> It was given its current name in 1886 by Lucien Quélet but is still widely known by the Elias Magnus Fries name Polyporus squamosus.<ref name="Zmitrovich2016" />

Etymology

Squamosus comes from the Latin squamosus meaning covered with scales or scaly,<ref name="Barnhart1988" /> referring to the signature dark brown scales found on the mushroom's cap.

The name "dryad's saddle" refers to creatures in Greek mythology called dryads who could conceivably sit and rest on this mushroom, whereas the pheasant's back analogy derives from the pattern of colors on the bracket matching that of a pheasant's back.

Description

Dryad's saddle is an annual<ref name=Kuo2015 /> mushroom commonly found attached to dead logs and stumps or on living hardwood trees at one point with a thick stem. Generally, the fruit body is round and between Template:Convert across<ref name="audu">Template:Cite book</ref> – exceptionally Template:Convert<ref name="tfb">Template:Cite book</ref> – and up to Template:Convert thick. The body can be yellow to brown and has "squamules" or scales on its upper side. On the underside one can see the pores that are characteristic of the genus Cerioporus; they are made up of tubes packed together closely. The tubes are between Template:Convert long. The stalk is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert thick.<ref name="audu" /><ref name=Spahr2009/> The mushroom's smell resembles that of watermelon rind.<ref name="Spahr2009" />

The fruit body produces a white spore print.<ref name="audu" /> The spores are 11–15 x 4–5 μm and are long and smooth ellipsoids. They can be found alone, in clusters of two or three, or forming shelves. Young specimens are soft but toughen with age. It is particularly common on dead elm and is also found on living maple trees. The fruit bodies, or "shelves" can grow rapidly. One studied by pioneer botanist Sir William J. Hooker at Dalbeth, Scotland in 1810 grew to a circumference of Template:Cvt and a weight of Template:Cvt in four weeks.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Similar species

In Polyporus tuberaster, the cap is rounder and the stipe more central, with the scales only dark at the tip.<ref name="audu" />

Distribution and habitat

This organism is common and widespread, being found east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States (April–October)<ref name="audu" /> and over much of Europe (July–November).<ref name="tfb" /> It is also found in Asia and Australia. It commonly fruits in the spring, occasionally during autumn, and rarely during other seasons. Many mushroom hunters will stumble upon substantially sized mushroom this when looking for morels during the spring as both have similar fruiting times.<ref name=Lonsdale1995/>

The species plays an important role in woodland ecosystems by decomposing wood, usually elm or maple,<ref name="Kuo2015" /> but is occasionally a parasite on living trees. Other tree hosts include ash, beech, horse-chestnut, Persian walnut, lime, maple, plane, poplar, magnolia, and willow.<ref name="Schmidt2006" />

Uses

The species is edible when young<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and cooked.<ref name="tfb" /> Specimens can become infested with maggots and become firm, rubbery and inedible as they mature. Cookbooks dealing with preparation generally recommend gathering these while young, slicing them into small pieces and cooking them over a low heat.

Some people value the thick, stiff paper that can be made from this and many other mushrooms of the genus Cerioporus.