Fungi fd. 1/25/03

[Irene Andersson]

On 25 Feb 2003 09:42:38 -0000, e.hutton
<caterpillar at amuscaria.uklinux.net> wrote:

>>> Corticioid will be of the family Corticiacae, which are the resupinate
>>> crust-like fungi usually found growing on wood. It is a fairly big
>>> family, of absolutely no culinary interest whatsoever.

Daniel B. Wheeler wrote:
>> Would Stereum sps. be part of the family? I did find a varety of this
>> growing near the T. messenterica of one stump, but didn't notice it at
>> all locations.

>Stereum sps. are in their own family, the Stereacae.
>Both the Corticiacae and the Stereacae are in the order Corticiales
>in the  sub-class Aphyllophoromycetideae
>in the class Homobasidiomycetes
>in the subdivision Basidiomycotina
>in the division Amastigomycota
>in the kingdom Fungi.
>This is the latest version I have of the classification. They keep on
>changing their minds though :-(
>An older book has these two species in the order Aphyllophorales.
>As far as I know the order Corticiales contains only these two families,
>but the book is not clear on this point.

I'm not capable of discussing the classification... but "corticioid"
only tells us what the fungus looks like (crust-shaped, resupinate,
with more or less smooth hymenophore), not which families or orders it
can belong to. Anyhow, I think we can agree that Stereum is a group of
corticioid fungi, and that some Tremella-species are parasites on them
(many of them also on pyrenomycetes). 
Tremella encephala, for example, grows on Stereum sanguinolentum.
That's why they often get a beautiful pink colour. But which host does
Tremella mesenterica have? None of my books is telling me.

Irene Andersson