Ganoderma applanatum

Taxobox
name = "Ganoderma applanatum"

---

image_width = 240px
image_caption = "Ganoderma applanatum"
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Polyporales
familia = Ganodermataceae
genus = "Ganoderma"
species = "G. applanatum"
binomial = "Ganoderma applanatum"
binomial_authority = (Pers.) Pat. mycomorphbox
name = Ganoderma applanatum
whichGills = decurrent
capShape = no
hymeniumType=pores
stipeCharacter=NA
ecologicalType=parasitic
sporePrintColor=brown
howEdible=inedible

"Ganoderma applanatum" (Artist's Bracket, Artist's Conk, or Flacher Lackporling; syn. "Boletus applanatus", "Fomes applanatus", "Fomes vegetus", "Ganoderme aplani", "Ganoderma lipsiense", "Polyporus applanatus", and "Polyporus vegetus") is a bracket fungus with a cosmopolitan distribution.

The spore bodies are up to 30-40 cm across, hard, woody-textured, and inedible; they are white at first but soon turn dark red-brown.

It is a wood-decaying fungus, using primarily dead heartwood, but also as a pathogen on live sapwood, particularly on older trees. It is a common cause of decay and death of beech and poplar, and less often of several other tree species, including alder, apple, elm, horse-chestnut, maple, oak, walnut, and willow.

A peculiarity of this fungus lies in its ability to be as a drawing medium for artists. When the surface is rubbed or scratched with a sharp implement, it changes from light to dark brown, producing visible lines and shading.

References

*Phillips, D. H., & Burdekin, D. A. (1992). "Diseases of Forest and Ornamental Trees". Macmillan.
* [http://www.nifg.org.uk/species/atlas2.htm?item=NBNSYS0000020961 "Ganoderma applanatum"]
* [http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~5941.asp "Ganoderma applanatum"]
* [http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/Toms_fungi/march99.html Photographs of the fungus, including one used as a drawing surface]
* [http://www.naturallist.com/fungifun.htm Several drawings created on these fungi]