Ganoderma applanatum (the artist's bracket, artist's conk, artist's fungus or bear bread) is a bracket fungus with a cosmopolitan distribution. As its common names suggest, it can be used as a drawing medium.
Description
Ganoderma applanatum is parasitic and saprophytic, and grows as a mycelium within the wood of living and dead trees. It grows in single, scattered, or compound formations. It forms fruiting bodies that are 3–30 centimetres (1–12 inches) wide,
The fruiting bodies are perennial, and may persist for multiple years, increasing in size and forming new layers of pores as they grow. These layers can be distinguished in a cross section or from observation of the concentric rings on the upper surface of the fruiting body. This allows the fruiting body's age to be determined using the same method as tree rings.
Brown spores are released from the pores on the underside of the fruiting body. The spores are highly concentrated, and as many as 4.65 billion spores can be dispersed from a 10 cm (4 in) by 10 cm section of the conk within 24 hours. The tubes are 4–12 millimetres (1⁄8–1⁄2 in) deep and terminate in pores that are round with 4–6 per millimetre. The spore print is reddish brown.
The similar Ganoderma brownii has thicker, darker flesh, often a yellow pore surface, and larger spores than G. applanatum. G. oregonense, G. lucidum, and Fomitopsis pinicola are also similar. Fomes fasciatus produces a white spore print.
Similar species
The similar Ganoderma brownii has thicker, darker flesh, often a yellow pore surface, and larger spores than G. applanatum. G. oregonense, G. lucidum, and Fomitopsis pinicola are also similar. Fomes fasciatus produces a white spore print.
Ecology
G. applanatum is a wood-decay fungus, causing a rot of heartwood in a variety of trees. It can also grow as a pathogen of live sapwood, particularly on older trees that are sufficiently wet. It is a common...
