Phlebopus marginatus
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| Phlebopus marginatus | ||||||||||||||
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| Phlebopus marginatus (J.Drumm. ex Berk.) Watling & N.M.Greg |
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Phlebopus marginatus, known as the Salmon gum mushroom in Western Australia, is a member of the Boletales or pored fungi and possibly Australia's largest terrestrial mushroom with the weight of one specimen from Victoria recorded at 29 kg (64 pounds). It is an imposing sight in forests of southeastern and southwestern Australia. Initially described as Boletus marginatus in 1845,[1] and also previously known by equally impressive scientific names such as Phaeogyroporus portentosus and Boletus portentosus it is in fact not as closely related to typical boletes as previously thought.[2]
The generic name is derived from the Greek Φλεβο- "vein" and πους "foot".[3]
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[edit] Description
A fungus which may reach huge proportions, with a chestnut cap up to 1 metre (40 inches) in diameter and yellowish pores and thick ringless stalk. Spores are yellow-brown. Mature specimens are very attractive to insects and often infested with them.
[edit] Distribution and habitat
Phlebopus marginatus is an example of a Gondwanan fungus, being found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka as well as Australia and New Zealand, with related species found in South America. Within Australia it occurs in eucalypt forests and may be found any time after rain.
[edit] Edibility
As with many Australian mushrooms, Phlebopus marginatus is generally recorded as of unknown edibility though one book describes it as reputedly edible and mild tasting[4].
[edit] References
- ^ Berkeley MJ (1845). "Decades of fungi. Dec. III-VII. Australian fungi". London J. Bot. 4: 42–73.
- ^ Watling R & Gregory NM (1988). "Observations on the boletes of the Cooloola sandmass, Queensland and notes on their distribution in Australia. Part 2 B: smooth spored taxa of the family Gyrodontaceae and the genus Pulveroboletus". Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 99: 65–76.
- ^ Liddell & Scott (1980). Greek-English Lexicon, Abridged Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN 0-19-910207-4.
- ^ Griffiths K (1985). A field guide to the larger fungi of the Darling Scarp & South West of Western Australia. Griffiths K. ISBN 0-9589705-0-5.
- Fuhrer B. (2005) A Field Guide to Australian Fungi. Bloomings Books. ISBN 1-876473-51-7
