Brown Funnel Polypore

not listed

NNR - Unranked

not listed

Brown Funnel Polypore is a common and widespread Tiger’s Eye Fungus. It occurs in Europe, Asia, and North America. In the United States it is common in the east and on the West Coast, uncommon in the Mountain States, and mostly absent from the Great Plains. It is found from spring through fall, alone or in groups, in coniferous and mixed forests, on trail edges and roadsides, and in other disturbed sites. It also colonizes severely burned areas in the first year or two after a fire. It usually grows on the ground, occasionally on rotting wood. It is ectomycorrhizal, obrtaining its nutrients by surrounding but not penetrating the roots of trees.

The cap is more or less round in outline, up to 4″ (10 cm) in diameter, and ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ (4 to 5 mm) thick. It is depressed in the center, appearing shallowly funnel-shaped. This is the feature that gives the mushroom its common name. The upper side is velvety hairy and is usually densely and strongly zoned, with varying colors of grayish-brown and golden-brown to cinnamon-brown or dark brown. Adjacent zones often have slightly different hairiness. The margin is often fringed or torn. The fringe is comprised of hyphal cells, by which the mushroom grows. When the margin encounters the margin of another of the same species, it grows around it, fusing and eventually merging with that cap. The cap is tough, leathery, and flat when fresh and moist, becoming hard, brittle, and bent downward when dry.

Unlike most polypores, Tiger’s Eye Fungi are stalked. The stalk of Brown Funnel Polypore is ⅝″ to 2¾″ (1.5 to 7.0 cm) long, velvety hairy, and dark brown or reddish-brown.

The pore surface is yellowish-white to golden brown when young, becoming cinnamon brown to dark brown with age. There are 2 to 3 pores per 1⁄32″ (1 mm). The pores are thin-walled and 1⁄16″to ⅛″ (2 to 4 mm) deep. The pore surface bruises brown when handled.

The spore print is yellowish-brown.

The flesh is thin and tough. It is considered inedible because it is too tough to eat.

Shiny Cinnamon Polypore (Coltricia cinnamomea) caps are thinner and smaller, no more than 2″ (5 cm) in diameter. They are shiny, usually inconspicuously zoned, and covered with silky hairs, not velvety. The stalks are shorter.

Coniferous and mixed forests, trail edges and roadsides, burned areas, and other disturbed sites

Spring through fall

Sources

4, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Common

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Location: Carver, MA

Could you tell me what species this is growing in my yard.