Studies on the medicinal polypore, Phellinus baumii, and its kin, P. linteus

Abstract

Phellinus linteus (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Teng has been widely reported in Asia, and considered to be a medicinal fungus in China, Japan and South Korea. A study of material from Northeast Asia revealed that the concept of the species has been misinterpreted, and the Asian fungus is in fact Phellinus baumii Pilát rather than P. linteus. Both species are described and illustrated. P. baumii is characterized by smaller, broadly ellipsoid spores, 3.3-4.5 × 2.4-3.5 μm; its tramal skeletals are parallel, mostly < 3 μm in diam, and they remain unchanged in KOH. The basidiocarps have a blunt edge and a distinct, wide sterile zone bordering the pore surface. P. linteus has larger, subglobose spores, 4.3-5.5 × 3.8-4.8 μm; its tramai skeletals are loosely interwoven, mostly > 3 μm in diam, and they swell in KOH. The basidiocarps of P. linteus have a more or less acute edge, and a narrow to indistinct sterile margin below. The former species is widely distributed in temperate Asia, and lives mostly on Syringa and Lonicera in Northeast Asia. The latter is most probably tropical American and African in its distribution, and its host tree species are not well-known.