Meripilus giganteus - Giant Polypore

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Polyporales

Meripilus giganteus is a very large polypore that appears on stumps and at the base of some living broad-leaved trees - most notably beech. The caps can be half a metre wide.

If cooked very slowly, young specimens are reportedly edible; however, they have been known to cause stomach upsets in some people and so are probably best avoided altogether. (There are plenty of much tastier fungi, so why eat a cardboard taste-alike?)

Identification Guide

	You may also find this polypore listed under the scientific names Polyporus gigantea or Grifola giganteus. These polypores are short lived and very quickly rot away. In this picture the fruiting bodies are attached to the base of a beech tree. Sometimes they grow attached to shallow roots at a distance of several metres from the trunk.
	Description This massive polypore grows as a rosette of fan-shaped caps at or near the base of hardwood trees and on stumps. The individual tan or light brown caps range from 10 to 30cm across and 1 to 3cm thick, while the complete fruiting body typically grows to between 50 and 80cm and occasionally more than a metre across.
	Tubes and Pores The off-white tubes are 4 to 6mm deep and terminate in tiny round white pores packed to a density of between 3 and 5 per mm. When bruised, the pores turn black.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	No distinctive odour; taste slightly acidic.
Habitat	At the base of beech trees and stumps; also sometimes on oak.
Season	Summer and autumn.
Occurrence	Fairly common.
Similar species	Laetiporus sulphureus is more orange and its pores do not turn black when bruised.