Phlebopus marginatus

Taxobox
name = "Phlebopus marginatus"


image_width = 220px
image_caption = "P. marginatus"
a moderate sized specimen, East Gippsland,
January 1993
regnum = Fungi
divisio = Basidiomycota
classis = Agaricomycetes
ordo = Boletales
familia = Boletinellaceae
genus = "Phlebopus"
species ="P. marginatus"
binomial = "Phlebopus marginatus"
binomial_authority = (J.Drumm. ex Berk.) Watling & N.M.Gregmycomorphbox
name = Phlebopus marginatus
whichGills = seceding
capShape = convex
hymeniumType=pores
stipeCharacter=bare
ecologicalType=mycorrhizal
sporePrintColor=brown
howEdible=unknown

"Phlebopus marginatus", known as the Salmon gum mushroom in Western Australia, is a member of the Boletales or pored fungi and possibly Australia's largest terrestrial mushroom with the weight of one specimen from Victoria recorded at 29 kg (64 pounds). It is an imposing sight in forests of southeastern and southwestern Australia. Initially described as "Boletus marginatus" in 1845, [cite journal | author = Berkeley MJ|authorlink=Miles Joseph Berkeley| year = 1845 | title = Decades of fungi. Dec. III-VII. Australian fungi| journal = London J. Bot. | volume = 4 | pages = 42–73] and also previously known by equally impressive scientific names such as "Phaeogyroporus portentosus" and "Boletus portentosus" it is in fact not as closely related to typical boletes as previously thought. [cite journal | author = Watling R & Gregory NM | year = 1988 | title = Observations on the boletes of the Cooloola sandmass, Queensland and notes on their distribution in Australia. Part 2 B: smooth spored taxa of the family Gyrodontaceae and the genus "Pulveroboletus"| journal = Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland | volume = 99 | pages = 65–76]

The generic name is derived from the Greek Φλεβο- "vein" and πους "foot". [cite book|author=Liddell & Scott|year=1980|title=Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged Edition |publisher=Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK|id=ISBN 0-19-910207-4]

Description

A fungus which may reach huge proportions, with a chestnut cap up to 1 metre (40 inches) in diameter and yellowish pores and thick ringless stalk. Spores are yellow-brown. Mature specimens are very attractive to insects and often infested with them.

Distribution and habitat

"Phlebopus marginatus" is an example of a Gondwanan fungus, being found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka as well as Australia and New Zealand, with related species found in South America. Within Australia it occurs in eucalypt forests and may be found any time after rain.

Edibility

As with many Australian mushrooms, "Phlebopus marginatus" is generally recorded as of unknown edibility though one book describes it as reputedly edible and mild tasting [cite book|author=Griffiths K|year=1985|title=A field guide to the larger fungi of the Darling Scarp & South West of Western Australia|publisher=Griffiths K|id=ISBN 0-9589705-0-5] .

References

*Fuhrer B. (2005) A Field Guide to Australian Fungi. Bloomings Books. ISBN 1-876473-51-7

External links

* [http://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/mycogeography-distant.html Australia's Gondwanan and Asian connections - Fungi]
* [http://www.rbg.vic.gov.au/dbpages/fungi/factsheets2/highlight.php?id=31&what=imc IMC8 Fungus of the Month - July 2004, "Phlebopus marginatus"]