''Albatrellus ovinus'' (commonly known as Sheep Polypore) is a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

polypore Polypores are a group of fungi that form large fruiting bodies with pores or tubes on the underside (see Delimitation for exceptions). They are a morphological group of basidiomycetes-like gilled mushrooms and hydnoid fungi, and not all polypor ...

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from th ...

found in western North America, and Northern Europe. It is very closely related to the rarer '' A. subrubescens'', from which it may be distinguished microscopically by the

amyloid Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a Fibril, fibrillar morphology of 7–13 Nanometer, nm in diameter, a beta sheet (β-sheet) Secondary structure of proteins, secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be Staining, ...

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...

wall. It is edible and sold commercially in Finland.

Description

The

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

is 4–20 cm wide, convex then flat or depressed, and white then tan or pinkish. The surface is dry and smooth but cracks with age. The whitish stalk is 3–10 cm tall and 1–4 cm wide, perhaps branching, with an equal or larger base. The species may be edible if cooked, but is not recommended by some guides.

Similar species

A fuller discussion of the small color differences from the inedible ''

Albatrellus subrubescens ''Albatrellus subrubescens'' is a species of polypore fungus in the family Albatrellaceae. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) of the fungus have whitish to pale buff-colored caps that can reach up to in diameter, and stems up to long and thic ...

'' can be found at that extensive article. Microscopically, the spores of ''A. subrubescens'' are

, while the ones of ''A. ovinus'' are not.J. Breitenbach, F. Kranzlin, 1986: Pilze der Schweiz, Band 2. Nichtblatterpilze. Also similar are ''

Albatrellus flettii ''Albatrellus flettii'' is a species of fungus in the family Albatrellaceae. It was originally described in 1941 by Elizabeth Eaton Morse as ''Polyporus flettii'', but this naming was invalid as it lacked a Latin description. Zdeněk Pouzar tran ...

'', ''Jahnoporus hirtus'', '' Scutiger pes-caprae'', and ''Scutiger ellisii''.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q331465 Russulales Fungi of Europe