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The sea buckthorn polypore was described recently; previously it was considered a variety of the false oak polypore. It is a perennial and grows on sea buckthorn (on living old bushes).
Description of the sea buckthorn polypore
The fruiting bodies are sessile, hard, and varied in shape. They can be hoof-shaped, round, half-shaped, half-prostrate. Dimensions – 3-7x2-5x1.5-5 cm.
The surface of the cap of a young specimen is thin-tomentose, velvety, yellowish-brown. In the process of growth, it becomes bare, furrowed-zonal, with convex zones, the color ranges from grayish-brown to dark gray, and is often covered with epiphytic algae or mosses.
The edge of the cap is rounded, blunt; in an adult mushroom or when it dries, it often cracks from the base. The fabric is brownish to rusty-brown, woody and silky when cut.
The spore-bearing layer is brown, brown, rusty-brown. The pores are small and round.The spores are fairly regular in shape, spherical or ovoid, thin-walled, pseudoamyloid, their size is 6-7.5x5.5-6.5 microns.
Often the mushroom envelops or half surrounds thin trunks and branches
Where and how does it grow
Settles in seaside or riverine thickets of sea buckthorn. It is found in Europe, Western Siberia, Central and Central Asia.
Is the mushroom edible or not?
Belongs to the inedible species. It is not eaten.
Doubles and their differences
The sea buckthorn polypore is microscopically practically no different from the false oak polypore. The first has smaller fruiting bodies, they have a regular shape (hoof-shaped or round), the pores are larger and thin-walled.
The false oak tinder fungus initially appears as shapeless rusty-brown growths, which in a mature specimen acquire a hoof-shaped or cushion-shaped shape and a gray-brown color. The surface is lumpy, with wide grooves and cracks. Size - from 5 to 20 cm. The pulp is woody and very hard.
They are cosmopolitan mushrooms, common in areas where oak trees grow. Causes white rot in trees.
Sometimes false tinder fungi settle on hornbeams, apple trees, and chestnuts
Conclusion
The sea buckthorn polypore is a parasite that is quite aggressive to the trees on which it grows. Causes a fungal disease in the bush - white rot. In Bulgaria it is included in the Red List.
