Fomitopsis pinicola - Red-belted Bracket

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Polyporales

Rare in Britain and Ireland but common in most countries of mainland Europe, this pale-spored perennial polypore is found on living or dead conifers. An orange or red band between the older annual layers and the current layer makes this polypore instantly recognisable.

In Scandinavia both Fomes fomentarius (Hoof Fungus) and Fomitopsis pinicola are very common, but the former is restricted to hardwood trees while the Red-banded Bracket attacks nainly conifers. In Slovenia the Red-banded Bracket is commonly seen on birches as well as on coniferous trees.

Identification Guide

Upper (infertile) surface	Annual layers of tubes build up to produce a large brackets, usually in the form of a woody hoof-shaped structure 8 to 25cm across and typically 5 to 10cm deep at the centre of the attachment area. The upper infertile surface is mainly grey with annual zone rings and ridges, but there is an orange or red growing band near the rim and a thinner white band right at the outer edge.
	Pores and Tubes Inside the fruiting body the flesh is hard and pale brown, while the spore-bearing surface has minute roundish pores that are cream at first but later become brown. The pores and the margin of the fruitbodies (especially when young and in damp weather) exude watery droplets.
Spore print	Pale lemon.
Odour/taste	Not significant.
Habitat	On conifers and occasionally on birches.
Season	All year round; shedding spores in late summer and autumn.
Occurrence	Rare in Britain and Ireland; much more common in northern parts of mainland Europe.
Similar species	This perennial bracket could be confused with Hoof Fungus, Fomes fomentarius, which is also hoof-shaped and has a grey upper surface but lacks the red or orange banding.