''Globifomes'' is a fungal

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

in the family

Polyporaceae The Polyporaceae are a family of poroid fungi belonging to the Basidiomycota. The flesh of their fruit bodies varies from soft (as in the case of the dryad's saddle illustrated) to very tough. Most members of this family have their hymeniu ...

. It is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus, containing the single North American species ''Globifomes graveolens'', commonly known as sweet knot. This fungus is found fruiting singly or in groups on trunks or logs of

hardwood Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...

trees, primarily

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s. The

fruit body In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the Ovary (plants), ovary after flowering plant, flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their ...

consists of a mass of small overlapping hoof-shaped caps arising from a common core. It is initially dull yellow-brown with tan petal-shaped margins, aging to dark brown.

Taxonomy

''Globifomes'' was

circumscribed In geometry, the circumscribed circle or circumcircle of a polygon is a circle that passes through all the vertices of the polygon. The center of this circle is called the circumcenter and its radius is called the circumradius. Not every polyg ...

William Alphonso Murrill William Alphonso Murrill (October 13, 1869 – December 25, 1957) was an American mycologist, known for his contributions to the knowledge of the Agaricales and Polyporaceae. In 1904, he became the assistant Curator at the New York Botanical Ga ...

in 1904. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

was originally described as ''Boletus graveolens'' by Lewis David de Schweinitz in 1822. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

was collected in Georgia and sent to Schweinitz for identification. The generic name combines the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''globus'' ("globe") with the name ''

Fomes ''Fomes'' is a genus of perennial woody fungi in the family Polyporaceae. Species are typically hoof-shaped (ungulate). New growth each season is added to the margin, resulting in a downward extension of the hymenium. This often results in a z ...

''. ''Polyporus botryoides'', described by

Joseph-Henri Léveillé Joseph-Henri Léveillé (28 May 1796 – 3 February 1870) was a French physician and mycologist who was a native of Crux-la-Ville, in the department of Nièvre. Léveillé studied medicine and mycology at the University of Paris, and in 1824 rece ...

in 1846, was deemed by Murrill to be "probably not distinct" from ''Globifomes graveolens''. The

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

of the fungus, sweet knot, refers to the odor of some specimens of freshly cut tissue. Most fruit bodies, however, do not have this odor.

Description

Murrill described the characteristics of the genus as follows: "Hymenophore large, woody, encrusted, perennial, epixylous, compound; context ferruginous, pinky, tubes cylindrical, thick-walled, stratose; spores ovoid, smooth, ferruginous." The

fruit bodies The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...

of the fungus measure between wide and tall, and consist of small overlapping stipe-less caps originating from a central core. Caps have a leathery to rigid texture with a slightly velvety surface and radial wrinkles on the edges. Adjacent caps can be fused together and have petal-shaped projecting margins. Initially dull yellow-brown with a tan margin, they mature to become dark brown to greyish black in age. The fibrous and tough flesh is yellowish brown and up to thick. The pore surface, initially purplish gray before turning dark grayish brown, comprises small circular pores numbering 3–5 per millimeter. Spores produced by the fungus are cylindrical, thin walled,

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

(translucent), and measure 10–14 by 3–4.5

μm The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American spelling), also commonly known as a micron, is a unit of length in the International System of Unit ...

. They are inamyloid. ''Globifomes'' produces a brown spore print.

Habitat and distribution

''Globifomes'' causes a white rot in the heartwood of

broadleaf tree A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with n ...

s. The fungus is most commonly found in

(Murrill noted a preference for water oak), but it also occurs on

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

. Fruit bodies grow on both living and dead trees.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5571056 Fungi of North America Polyporaceae Monotypic Polyporales genera Taxa named by William Alphonso Murrill Taxa described in 1904