Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2017 | 9(12): 11085–11086

 

 

 

 

Largest fungal fruit body from India

 

Manoj Kumar 1, Prahlad Singh Mehra 2, N.S.K. Harsh 3, Amit Pandey 4 & Vijay Vardhan Pandey 5

 

1,2,3,4,5 Forest Pathology Division, Forest Research Institute, Kaula Garh, Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand 248195, India

1 mnoj23@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 pmehra25june@gmail.com, 3 nirmalharsh57@gmail.com, 4 amiticfre@gmail.com, 5 vijayvardhan1989@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

doi: http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3591.9.12.11085-11086

Editor: B. Shivaraju, Bengaluru, India. Date of publication: 26 December 2017 (online & print)

 

Manuscript details: Ms # 3591 | Received 21 June 2017 | Final received 05 October 2017 | Finally accepted 29 November 2017

 

Citation: Kumar, M., P.S. Mehra, N.S.K. Harsh, A. Pandey & V.V. Pandey (2017). Largest fungal fruit body from India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9(12): 11085–11086; http://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3591.9.12.11085-11086

 

Copyright: © Kumar et al. 2017. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

 

Funding: None.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

 

 

Phellinus pachyphloeus (Pat.) Pat. syn. Inonotus pachyphloeus (Pat.) T. Wagner & M. Fisch. is a species of polypore fungi in the family Hymenochaetaceae. It is both parasitic and saprophytic, that causes sap and heart rot in angiosperms especially species of Ficus and Mangifera (Bakshi 1971; Sharma 1995) and produces white stringy rot. This fungus usually produces large fruit bodies mostly bigger than other fungi in Hymenochaetaceae and Polyporaceae (Sharma 1995). If conditions are optimal, this fungus forms very large fruit bodies. In literature, given fruit body sizes are 16–20 x 10–14 x 16–20 cm (Bakshi 1971), 25 x 45 x 10 cm (Ryvarden & Johansen 1980), 25 x 45 x 10 cm (Larsen & Cobb-Poulle 1990), 80 x 60 x 10-20 cm (Sharma 1995). In the field, it is very easy to recognize, with its larger fruit body, a thick crust and yellowish-brown punky context. Microscopically it is recognized by acute and wide setal hyphae (Bakshi 1971; Ryvarden & Johansen 1980; Sharma 1995).

In the present study, the fruit body measured 151 x 142 x 57 cm and had a circumference of 428cm (Image 1), which has not been reported elsewhere. It was recorded from the Kalsi bypass near Barotiwala in Dehradun (30.43250000 N & 77.79111111 E) on 13 September 2015 as parasitic on a Mango tree Mangifera indica. Its age was estimated approximately 20 years but according to the owner of the house where the tree was located, it was 22–25 years. A fruiting body of this size is extremely unique and rare yet it was not detached from its host earlier to maintain conservation and to let the fungus continue its majestic growth. Till date no fungal fruit body of this size has been recorded from India. This is the second largest fungal fruit body ever recorded after Fomitiporia ellipsoidea B.K. Cui & Y.C. Dai (Dai & Cui 2011; Walker 2011) syn. Phellinus ellipsoideus B.K. Cui, Y.C. Dai & Decock from Hainan Island, China which measured 1,085cm. The recorded fruit body is slightly bigger than Rigidoporus ulmarius (Sowerby) Imazeki found in Kew Gardens of United Kingdom that measured 150 x 133 cm with circumference of 425cm (Tribe 2003). Fomitiporia ellipsoidea B.K. Cui & Y.C. Dai was a resupinate fruit body, so the present record can be attributed as being the largest pileated fungal fruit body from the world.

A visit was again made in March 2017 to re-measure its growth but unfortunately the tree had fallen and the fruit body had deteriorated as informed to us by the owner of the house.

 

 

 

 

References

 

Bakshi, B.K. (1971). Indian Polyporaceae (on trees and timber). Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, 246pp.

Dai, Yu-C., & B-.K. Cui (2011). “Fomitiporia ellipsoidea has the largest fruiting body among the fungi”. Fungal Biology 115(9): 813–4.

Larsen, M.J. & L.A. Cobb-Poulle (1990). Phellinus (Hymenochaetaceae): a survey of the world taxa. Synopsis Fungorum 3: 1–206.

Ryvarden, L. & I. Johansen (1980). A Preliminary Polypore Flora of East Africa. Fungiflora, Oslo, 636pp.

Sharma, J.R. (1995). Hymenochaetaceae of India. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, 219pp.

Tribe, H.T. (2003). Rigidoporus ulmarius in the Cambridge Botanical Garden. Mycologist 17: 92.

Walker, M. (2011). “Giant fungus discovered in China”. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14294283> Updated on 1 August 2011.