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[ Basidiomycota > Gloeophyllales > Gloeophyllaceae > Neolentinus . . . ] Neolentinus ponderosus by Michael Kuo, 12 September 2025 Enormous and tough, Neolentinus ponderosus is usually found on well-decayed stumps of ponderosa pine, although it also appears on the wood of other western conifers. It features a cap that is covered with brownish, appressed scales, along with white gills that have serrated, jagged edges. The stem is finely scaly, especially in age, toward the base. Despite its large size it tends to appear in the hotter, drier summer months, rather than the wet, rainy fall season that triggers the appearance of so many of our western North American mushrooms. Neolentinus lepideus is similar but usually somewhat smaller—and it features an ephemeral partial veil, visible in button-stage specimens. It is widely distributed in North America, and its range overlaps that of Neolentinus ponderosus; however, in western North America, lepideus is more likely to appear on lumber (railroad tracks, fence wood) while ponderosus generally appears on natural deadwood, especially on stumps. Mycologists have long wondered where to place Neolentinus ponderosus and its close relatives in the grand scheme of myco-evolution. Because of its hyphal structure and the fact that it causes a brown rot, it was suspected to be more closely related to polypores than to gilled mushrooms, despite its gills. But a 2005 DNA study (Binder et al.) found Neolentinus to be closely related to Gloeophyllum sepiarium, which is currently placed in the Gloeophyllales, far from the traditional polypores. Lentinus ponderosus is a synonym. Thanks to Laurence Boomer for collecting, documenting, and preserving Neolentinus ponderosus for study; his collection is deposited in The Herbarium of Michael Kuo. Description: Ecology: Saprobic on well-decayed, bark-less logs and stumps of ponderosa pine and other conifers; growing alone or in small troops; summer; originally described from Idaho (Miller 1965); distributed in western North America. The illustrated and described collections are from Colorado and Oregon. Cap: 5–30+ cm across; convex, becoming broadly convex; dry; buff to pinkish and bald underneath with large, brownish to brown, appressed scales; the margin inrolled at first. Gills: Broadly attached to the stem or attached by a notch; close; short-gills frequent; edges serrated; white to orangish white, discoloring brownish to yellowish. Stem: 3–10 cm long; 2–4 cm wide; equal, or with a slightly swollen or tapered base; dry; finely scaly or laterally ridged, with scales becoming reddish brown toward the base; without a ring; whitish to brownish; very tough. Flesh: White to pinkish white; thick and tough; unchanging when sliced. Odor and Taste: Not distinctive. Chemical Reactions: KOH yellowish on cap surface and on flesh. Spore Print: White. Microscopic Features: Spores 9–11.5 x 3–4 µm; subcylindric; smooth; thin-walled; hyaline in KOH; inamyloid. Basidia 4-spored. Hymenial cystidia not found. Pileipellis a cutis. Hyphal system dimitic at maturity: skeletal hyphae 8–10 µm wide, smooth, hyaline, walls about 1 µm thick; generative hyphae 3–9 µ wide, smooth, thin-walled, hyaline, clamped at septa. REFERENCES: (O. K. Miller Jr., 1965) S. A. Redhead & J. H. Ginns, 1985. (Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Pegler, 1983; Arora, 1986; States, 1990; Lincoff, 1992; Bessette, Miller, Bessette & Miller, 1995; Binder et al., 2005; Miller & Miller, 2006; Desjardin, Wood & Stevens, 2015; Evenson, 2015; Cripps, Evenson & Kuo, 2016.) Herb. Kuo 08161301, 07221901. This site contains no information about the edibility or toxicity of mushrooms. |
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Cite this page as: Kuo, M. (2025, September). Neolentinus ponderosus. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: /neolentinus_ponderosus.html |