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A representative of the genus Daedaleopsis from the Polyporaceae family. Daedaleopsis tricolor is known by several Latin names:
- Lenzites tricolor;
- Daedaleopsis tricolor;
- Daedaleopsis confragosa var. tricolor;
- Agaricus tricolor.
The color is bright, with dark burgundy stripes located closer to the edge of the cap.
What does Daedaleopsis tricolor look like?
Annual Daedaleopsis tricolor grows in loose groups, covering large spaces on the surface of the wood.
External characteristics:
- fruiting bodies are sessile and narrowed at the base with a compaction in the form of a tubercle in the lower part;
- the surface of the cap is wrinkled with radial color zones; in young specimens the shade is closer to gray with a clearly defined light stripe along the edge;
- as it matures, the color becomes tricolor: at the base – brown or dark gray with a purple tint, towards the edge – with alternating areas of purple or dark red, as well as brown;
- fruit bodies are prostrate, round with wavy edges, thin;
- the surface is dry, slightly bumpy, bare;
- the hymenophore is lamellar, branched, the arrangement of the plates is sparse, the color at the beginning of growth is beige or whitish, over time it becomes light brown with a reddish tint and a silvery tint;
- When mechanically damaged, the spore-bearing layer turns brown.
The pulp is light with a brown tint, without a pronounced odor.
Tricolored Daedaleopsis growing on branches, completely covering the wood, merging with its sides
Where and how does it grow
The distribution area is in the zone of temperate and warm climates. It parasitizes living wood, deadwood trunks, and branches. In Siberia it is found on willow, aspen, birch, and in the southern regions - more often on alder. An annual mushroom with the beginning of the growing season in May, lasting until November. Grows singly or in imbricated scattered loose groups. It becomes the cause of damage to trees by white rot.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
The pulp of Daedaleopsis tricolor is thin - within 3 mm. The structure is rigid both at the beginning and at the end of the growing season, therefore it has no nutritional value. No toxicity information available.
Doubles and their differences
Externally similar to Daedaleopsis is the tricolored inedible tinder fungus, lumpy (rough). The fruiting bodies are smaller, densely arranged, often fused with lateral parts.The caps are thicker, the color is uneven with radial, indistinct color zones. The color is light brown, different shades of yellow. The edges at the beginning of growth are beige, in old mushrooms they are dark gray.
The life cycle of the tuberous tinder fungus is up to three years
Lenzites birch is an annual species, the most common in Russia. Densely spaced fruiting bodies often grow together to form rosettes. The surface is zonal, at the beginning of growth it is light, gray, cream. Over time, the colors darken and clear boundaries are defined. Inedible.
The surface of the cap in adult specimens is covered with a green coating
Conclusion
Daedaleopsis tricolor is an annual species, common in all climatic zones, the main accumulation is in Western Siberia. Fruiting bodies with a rigid structure have no nutritional value. Symbiosis with deciduous trees causes the spread of white rot on trees.
