ANALYSIS OF SPECIES.
[*] Stem excentric.
[**] Stem lateral.
[***] Stem absent. Pileus resupinate or dimidiate.
Species of this genus are among our most observable fungi. Their settlements are frequent on decaying trees, stumps, branches, on fences, cut timber, etc. Most of them are small, but their coriaceous build prevents their shrinking in cooking. Most species have a pleasant farinaceous taste and odor, which they yield, together with a gummy substance, to soups and gravies.
Tasting a small piece will immediately tell, if the species is not known, whether it is edible or of the styptic kind.
P. concha´tus Fr.—Formed like concha, a shell-fish. Pileus about 3 in. across, tough and flexible, unequal, excentric or dimidiate, margin often lobed, cinnamon-color becoming pale, at length more or less scaly. Flesh thin. Gills narrow, forming decurrent lines on the stem, somewhat branched; pinkish-white then pale-ochraceous. Stem about ⅔ in. long, 3–4 lines thick, solid, unequal, pale, base downy. Massee.
On trunks of beech, poplar, etc.
Often imbricated and more or less grown together. Allied to Panus torulosus, but distinguished by the much thinner pileus, more expanded and excentric, also dimidiate, flaccid, cinnamon becoming pale, but the form not constant. Stem about ½ in. long, 4 lines thick, often compressed, downy at the base. Pileus 2–4 in. broad, scaly when old. Gills decurrent in long, parallel lines, not at all resembling those of Pleurotus ostreatus, which anastomose behind, but frequently unequally branched, at first whitish or pale flesh-color, then wood-color, crisped when dry. Fries.