Pixel Wild
Berkeley's Polypore
Berkeley's Polypore
Bondarzewia berkeleyi
Fungi
UNCOMMON

Stats

Lifespan
A few months
Size
Huge
Diet
Decomposer
Biome
Temperate forest
Range
North America
Movement
Sessile
Breeding
Spores
Defense
Toxins
Status
Uncommon

About

Berkeley's Polypore forms massive, overlapping shelf-like clusters at the base of hardwood trees, sometimes weighing over 45 kg. It causes butt rot by slowly decaying the heartwood and roots of the trees it parasitizes.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    spore
    A microscopic spore drifts on air or water and germinates where moisture and substrate meet.
  2. 2.
    mycelium
    A thread-like mycelium spreads through the substrate, breaking it down into nutrients.
  3. 3.
    fruiting body
    A mature fruiting body emerges to release the next generation of spores.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Fungi
Phylum
Basidiomycota
Class
Agaricomycetes
Order
Russulales
Family
Bondarzewiaceae
Genus
Bondarzewia
Species
Bondarzewia berkeleyi