''Laetiporus portentosus'' is a species of

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 in the family

Fomitopsidaceae The Fomitopsidaceae are a family of fungi in the order Polyporales. Most species are parasitic on woody plants, and tend to cause brown rots. The name comes from ''Fomitopsis'' (meaning "looking like Fomes") + ''-aceae'' (a suffix used to form t ...

. It is found in South America, Australia, and New Zealand. It has been used traditionally as a

tinder Tinder is easily combustible material used to start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder until it bursts into flame. The flaming tinder i ...

and to carry fire by

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

s, and by New Zealand

Māori people The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several ce ...

. The Māori have also used it as a "wound protector, to soften and ease a difficult labor." The

white-throated treecreeper The white-throated treecreeper (''Cormobates leucophaea'') is an Australian treecreeper found in the forests of eastern Australia. It is unrelated to the northern hemisphere treecreepers. It is a small passerine bird with predominantly brown and ...

(''Cormobates leucophaea'') has been recorded feeding on this fungus in a

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

dry forest Dry or dryness most often refers to: * Lack of rainfall, which may refer to **Arid regions **Drought * Dry or dry area, relating to legal prohibition of selling, serving, or imbibing alcoholic beverages * Dry humor, deadpan * Dryness (medical) ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Taxonomy

The fungus was first described in 1844 by English mycologist

Miles Joseph Berkeley Miles Joseph Berkeley (1 April 1803 – 30 July 1889) was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology. Life Berkeley was born at Biggin Hall, Benefield, Northamptonshire, and educated at R ...

. Mario Rajchenberg transferred it to the genus ''

Laetiporus ''Laetiporus'' is a genus of edible mushrooms found throughout much of the world. Some species, especially ''Laetiporus sulphureus'', are commonly known as sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, or the chicken fungus because ...

'' in 1995. The fungus has acquired an extensive

synonymy A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

in the interim: *''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)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10553030 Fungi described in 1844 Fungi of Australia Fungi of New Zealand Fungi of South America Fungal plant pathogens and diseases portentosus Taxa named by Miles Joseph Berkeley