Community find

Orange Polypore

Pycnoporus sanguineus

Group

polypore

Spore print

White

Size

Cap 2-10 cm wide, 1-5 cm deep, and 0.2-0.8 cm thick. Stipe is absent or very rudimentary.

Season

Year-round in tropical and subtropical climates; summer and fall in temperate regions.

Habitat

Grows on dead hardwoods, often in sunny, exposed locations such as fallen logs and sticks.

Distribution

Pantropical and subtropical regions, including the Southern United States, Central and South America, Africa, and Asia.

Key characteristics

Fan-shaped or semicircular cap, bright orange to cinnabar-red color, leathery texture, pore-bearing underside.

Fruiting body

Cap is sessile, fan-shaped to semicircular, relatively thin and leathery. Surface is finely tomentose to glabrous and bright orange. Hymenophore consists of minute, bright red-orange circular pores.

How to recognise it

Note the intense, vibrant orange-red color that persists even when dried, the very fine pores on the underside, and the leathery, flexible texture.

Look-alikes

Trametes cinnabarina (typically thicker and found in northern temperate regions) and Trametes coccinea.

Ecological role

Saprophytic, causing white rot by breaking down lignin and cellulose in dead wood.

Notes

The bright pigments in this fungus are mainly due to cinnabarin, which has been studied for its potential applications in biotechnology and bio-dyes.