Laetiporus portentosus

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Laetiporus portentosus
Fruiting body of L. portentosus growing on a tree, South Island, New Zealand
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Polyporales
Family: Fomitopsidaceae
Genus: Laetiporus
Species:
L. portentosus
Binomial name
Laetiporus portentosus
(
Berk.
) Rajchenb. (1995)

Laetiporus portentosus is a species of polypore fungus in the family Fomitopsidaceae, found in South America, Australia, and in the North Island and northern South Island of New Zealand.[1]

Name

L. portentosus is known in Māori as pūtawa or pangu, and European settlers (Pākeha) called it "beech whiskers", "beech beard", or "morepork bread".[2] It was also referred to as "punk", a general term for any Polyporus fungus dried and used as tinder.[3]

Description

The fungus is a yellowish or white flattened bulbous mass, with a consistency like expanded polystyrene when it is dry, but soft like a sponge when it is thoroughly wet, with a light brown top and paler underside with very small but visible pores, 1–3 pores/mm. Often enough, the mass is thoroughly eaten by grubs, till it looks like a sponge.[4][2] Usually found several metres above ground, it grows 10–30 cm across and up to 6 cm thick.[1][4]

Ecology

In New Zealand this species in Māori tradition was associated with the small tree hutu (

Victoria.[5]

In a study comparing different fungi that inhabit wood, it was found that L. portentosus had a high ability to decompose heartwood and a low ability to decompose sapwood of Nothofagus pumilio.[6]

Taxonomy

The fungus was first

synonymy in the interim:[9]

  • Polyporus portentosus Berk. (1844)
  • Ungulina portentosa (Berk.) Pat. (1906)
  • Piptoporus portentosus (Berk.) G. Cunn. (1965)
  • Polyporus eucalyptorum Fr. (1846)
  • Ungulina eucalyptorum (Fr.) Pat. (1906)
  • Piptoporus eucalyptorum (Fr.) Warcup (1986)
  • Polyporus leucocreas Cooke (1879)
  • Polyporus spermolepidis Pat. (1898)
  • Ungulina spermolepidis (Pat.) Pat. (1906)
  • Ungulina spermolepidis var. pandani Pat. (1906)
  • Polyporus spermolepidis var. pandani (Pat.) Sacc. & Trotter (1912)
  • Polyporus albofuscus Lloyd (1924)
  • Durogaster albus Lloyd (1924)

Cultural uses

L. portentosus has been used traditionally as

Australian Aboriginals[10] and New Zealand Māori people; when dried and set alight, the fungus will smoulder very slowly, and could be used as a reliable source of ignition.[3] Smouldering pieces were half-buried in the ground (where they would burn for a day or two), carried from place to place in ornately-carved tinderboxes, or placed atop a stick and used to light one's way when travelling at night.[2] Pākehā also used pūtawa as a fire starter, a substitute for touchpaper, carrying it around in cigarette tins; it was even sent with flint stones to New Zealand troops in both World Wars to help light cigarettes and pipes.[2]

Māori used pūtawa cut into absorbent strips and bandaged around wounds to protect them from pressure.[2] It was also possibly taken internally "to soften and ease a difficult labour."[3][11]

Gallery

  • Fruiting bodies of L. portentosus in New Zealand
  • Upper surface of fruiting body
    Upper surface of fruiting body
  • Fruiting bodies growing on a tree
    Fruiting bodies growing on a tree
  • Immature fruiting body sliced open
    Immature fruiting body sliced open

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 1372569849
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 9781775542193
    .
  3. ^ a b c d Riley, Murdoch (1994). Māori Healing and Herbal. Paraparaumu: Viking Sevenseas. pp. 383–384.
  4. ^ a b Hubregtse, J. (2019) Fungi In Australia, Rev. 2.2, Part 4, Basidiomycota, Agaricomycotina II, pages 163–165. E-published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria Inc., Blackburn, Victoria, Australia. Web address http://www.fncv.org.au/fungi-in-australia/
  5. doi:10.20938/afo34010011
    .
  6. Wikidata Q115696923
    .
  7. doi:10.1111/j.1756-1051.1995.tb00127.x
    .
  8. ISSN 0027-5514
    .
  9. ^ "GSD Species Synonymy: Laetiporus portentosus (Berk.) Rajchenb". Species Fungorum. CAB International. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  10. ISBN 978-1-136-53817-9
    .
  11. doi:10.1615/IntJMedMushrooms.v7.i3.470
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laetiporus_portentosus&oldid=1224724720"