Byssomerulius incarnatus
[Phlebia incarnata, Merulius incarnatus]
- Name
- coral-pink merulius
- Etymology
- Epithet = crimson (flesh-colored). Genus = byssus + merulius.
- Fruitbody
- Annual merulioid or stereoid fungus. Caps pinkish, up to 7 cm wide. Underside wrinkled, whitish. Spore print white.
- Similar species
- It has a well developed cap that is coral pink unlike Merulius tremellosus (Phlebia), which is whitish above and pinkish below.
- Ecology
- Saprobe on dead hardwoods, causing a white rot. Has some kind of association with Stereum.
- Phenology
- Found in April, August, and September for the known Chicago Region records. Elsewhere it is mostly found in summer and fall, and into the winter to the south.
- Biogeography
- Eastern U.S.A., Texas, Arizona, Mexico. There are records for central and southern Illinois. Chicago seems to be at the north-western edge of the range for this species.
- Chicago Region status
- Previously rare, observations about 5 years apart, to now uncommon, found three years in a row with four locations in 2018. The closest historic collection online MycoPortal is from 1919 in Central Indiana. There are no historic records by Harper or Moffatt near Chicago.
- Specimens examined
- This characteristic species has several collections from oak woodlands of Cook County, one from DuPage County, Illinois, and two from NW Indiana (Porter and Lake Counties).
Taxon Details and Links
- Nomenclature
-
- Byssomerulius incarnatus , Fungi that Decay Ponderosa Pine: 45 (1974)
- ≡ Basionym: Merulius incarnatus , Schr. naturf. Ges. Leipzig 1: 92 (1822)
- ≡ Phlebia incarnata , Mycotaxon 21: 245 (1984)
- Type
- On Wood, Salem, North Carolina.
- Taxonomy
- Seems unsettled in its taxonomic placement. Recent works treat it as Phlebia incarnata but I noticed in July 2014 that it went back in Byssomerulius. I don't know why its transfer to Phlebia with the other Merulius species did not stick. I have not seen it in a molecular phylogeny. There should be an obvious difference between these genera since Phlebia is in the family Meruliaceae, while Byssomerulius is in the Irpicaceae (no longer in Phanerochaetaceae).
- Description links
- Michael Kuo
- Gary Emberger
- The Mushroom Farm
- Related links
- Wikipedia
- Fungus Fact Friday by Thomas Roehl
- Records online
- iNaturalist
- Mushroom Observer
- MycoPortal (synonyms not linked): B. incarnatus, P. incarnata, P. incarnatus
- Taxon links
- 310027 Byssomerulius incarnatus
- MycoBank
- Index Fungorum and Species Fungorum
Cite this page as: Leacock, P.R. (2018 November 17). Byssomerulius incarnatus - MycoGuide. Retrieved from http://mycoguide.com/guide/fungi/basi/agar/poly/irpi/byss/incarnatus