Royoporus badius
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''Royoporus badius'' or ''Picipes badius'', commonly known as the black-footed polypore or black-leg, is a species of fungus 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 causes a white rot 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 ...
s and
conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
s. The species is found in temperate areas of Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. It has a dark brown or reddish-brown cap that reaches a diameter of , and a stipe that is often completely black or brown at the top and black at the base.


Taxonomy

The species was first described in the scientific literature in 1801 by Christian Hendrik Persoon, who named it ''Boletus badius''. American mycologist Lewis David de Schweinitz transferred the species to '' Polyporus'' in 1832, and it was known by this name until 1997, when De transferred the species into the genus ''
Royoporus ''Royoporus'' is a genus of fungi in the family Polyporaceae. It was circumscribed by mycologist Asit Baran De in 1996. The genus name honours Indian botanist Anjali Roy, (1930–2017), who worked at Visva-Bharati University in West Bengal. The ...
'', which he had described the year before. Polyporaceae species that are closely
phylogenetically In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
related to ''R. badius'' include '' P. dictyopus'', '' P. melanopus'', and '' P. tubaeformis'', which have clamp connections on generative hyphae and a similar ecology. Zmitrovich & Kovalenko proposed the new genus ''Picipes'' for this fungus together with ''P. melanopus'' and ''P. tubaeformis'' and according to Species Fungorum ''Picipes badius'' is now the correct current name. The
specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''badius'' derives from the Latin root ''badi-'', meaning "reddish brown". 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 ...
s "black-footed polypore" and "black-leg" refer to its characteristic dark-colored stipe.


Description

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 ''Royoporus badius'' tend to be upright, growing solitary or in groups, sometimes with two or more fruit bodies arising from a common stipe. The cap is circular or kidney-shaped, and often lobed or with a wavy edge. When young, the fruit bodies are convex, then become flat or funnel-shaped in maturity, reaching dimensions of across by thick. The upper cap surface is smooth and glossy, but develops radial wrinkles as it ages. The color of the cap is brown, often darker in the center and lighter-colored at the margins. The under-surface is white or cream-colored, yellowing when old. Pores are round and number 6–8 per mm, with decurrent tubes (running down the length of the stipe). The stipe, attached to the cap either centrally or laterally, is long by thick, velvety and dark brown to blackish-brown, black and longitudinally wrinkled when old. The fruit bodies are inedible because of their tough texture. The spores are ellipsoid or cylindrical,
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), smooth, and 7.5–9 by 3–5 
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 ...
. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are club-shaped with a narrow base, and have dimensions of 20–30 by 7–9 µm. Like other members of the genus ''Polyporus'', this species has a dimitic hyphal construction, meaning that the hyphae are made of both generative hyphae and skeleto-ligative hyphae, a feature which tends to make the mushroom tissue hard and woody. There are no cystidia in the
hymenium The hymenium is the tissue layer on the hymenophore of a fungal fruiting body where the cells develop into basidia or asci, which produce spores. In some species all of the cells of the hymenium develop into basidia or asci, while in others some ...
. The fungus has been shown to produce asexual spores when grown in pure culture conditions.


Habitat and distribution

''Royoporus badius'' is a saprobic species, and causes white rot. It grows on the standing or fallen trunks and branches of various
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 ...
genera, including '' Acer'', '' Aesculus'', '' Alnus'', '' Betula'', ''
Castanea The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nut (fruit), nuts they produce. Th ...
'', '' Fagus'', ''
Fraxinus ''Fraxinus'' (), common name, commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of Subtropics, subtropic ...
'', ''
Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...
'', '' Prunus'', '' Robinia'', '' Quercus'', '' Salix'', ''
Tilia ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain a ...
'' and '' Ulmus''. The fungus grows in temperate regions of Asia, Europe, and North America.


References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q327708, from2=Q96636858 Polyporaceae Fungi of Asia Fungi of Australia Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Fungi described in 1783 Inedible fungi Taxa named by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon