Pine Bracket

Description

Pine bracket is a hard, woody bracket fungus growing on the trunks of living conifers. The fruiting body is perennial, up to 20 cm wide, hoof-shaped or shelf-shaped, with a concentrically furrowed and cracked surface that darkens with age from brown to nearly black. The margin is sharp, chestnut-coloured in young specimens, and the underside is pored, with tiny pores, yellow-brown, rusty in older ones. The flesh is cork-like and woody and very hard.

It grows mainly on old pines, usually quite high on the trunk, most often in old parks and stands. In Poland it is found from fairly common to rare, depending on the region. Because it is perennial, it can be seen all year round. The presence of fruiting bodies means that rot is developing inside the trunk, which weakens the tree and can cause it to topple or break.

It is distinguished from similar bracket fungi mainly by its host: Phellinus chrysoloma grows on spruce, fir and larch, while Phellinus igniarius and Phellinus tremulae grow on broadleaved trees. As an inedible fungus, it is not collected.

Identification features

Cap

Perennial bracket-type fruiting body, attached to the substrate by its side; grows singly or in small groups, often fused together. Young ones are shelf-shaped or semicircular, later hoof-shaped, usually triangular in cross-section. Up to 20 cm wide and 8 cm high. Surface concentrically zoned, with small lumps and furrows, often deeply cracked radially. Colour brown or greenish-brown at first, later nearly black; when overgrown with algae it may be celadon green. Margin usually sharp and even, chestnut-coloured in young specimens, sterile for a width of about 0.5–1 mm; young fruiting bodies have tawny hairs that fall off in older ones.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Pored (tubular). Tubes 3–10 mm long; a fruiting body may have several layers of tubes separated by flesh. The hymenophore is greyish-yellow or yellow-olive in young fruiting bodies and rusty in older ones. Pores irregular: oval, angular, elongated or slightly labyrinthine, usually 0.2–0.7 mm, sometimes up to 3 mm; pore edges entire, downy in young ones. Young, growing fruiting bodies have a pale yellow-brown underside and margin.

Stem

No stem — the fruiting body is sessile, attached sideways to the trunk.

Flesh

Homogeneous, cork-like and woody, very hard, 5–15 mm thick, rusty-cinnamon to chestnut in colour. The fruiting body gives off a strong mushroomy smell. The flesh should not be tasted.

Spore print and spores

Spores (basidiospores) ovoid, hyaline, slightly yellowish in older hymenophores, smooth, non-amyloid; size 4.5–6 (7) × 3.5–5 µm. Spore print colour: no data.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. A parasite of conifers causing mottled rot (known in English-language literature as red ring rot or white speck) — decay of lignin in the heartwood as well as in the sapwood. Infection occurs only through wind-dispersed basidiospores, which germinate on tree wounds (broken-off branches, trunk injuries, fires, logging operations). From infection to the appearance of fruiting bodies usually takes from several years to about 20 years. The fungus overwinters as mycelium in diseased or dead trees. In cross-section of the trunk the rot forms a circle, rings or crescents; it is pale pink or reddish at first, then red, finally pale cocoa-coloured, with pits filled with white cellulose; in the final stage the wood turns to powder. It extends up to about 4 m above the highest and about 3 m below the lowest fruiting body; cavities hollowed out by woodpeckers may indicate the rot. The rot lowers the value of the timber and mechanically weakens the tree, but decayed trunks also serve as nesting sites for cavity-nesting birds and mammals.

Distribution. Widespread in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere. In Poland, according to some descriptions, fairly common; the 2006 Red List rated it as rare (R). Grows on living trees, mainly on Scots pine, less often on black pine; also reported from other conifers, including Lawson's cypress, Banks pine, Douglas fir, western thuja and western hemlock, and in North America also from spruces, firs, larch and lodgepole pine. Fruiting bodies usually grow quite high on the trunks of older trees, most often in old parks and old stands. It is not legally protected in Poland.

Fruiting. Perennial fruiting body, visible all year round; no data on the season of spore production.

What can it be confused with?

• Phellinus chrysoloma (spruce bracket) — Forms similar fruiting bodies, but grows on spruce, fir and larch, not on pine.
• Phellinus igniarius (willow bracket) — Grows mainly on broadleaved trees (including willows), not on conifers.
• Phellinus tremulae (aspen bracket) — Grows on aspen and other poplars, not on conifers.
• Fuscoporia ferruginosa and Fuscoporia gilva — Fruiting bodies usually resupinate or narrowly shelf-shaped, growing mainly on broadleaved trees; the differences are confirmed by microscopic examination.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• The species was first described in 1804 (Brotero, Boletus pini); the current genus name was given to it in 1905 by William Murrill.
• In a 100-year-old pine stand 15–35% of trunks may be infected, and in a 160-year-old one even all of them.
• The rot can extend about 4 m above the highest fruiting body, and its presence is sometimes betrayed by cavities hollowed out by woodpeckers.
• Infection occurs only through tree wounds; from infection to the appearance of fruiting bodies usually takes from several years to about 20 years.