Spores: borne in shallow pores which are part of a complicated network of rust-brown folds and ridges.
Spore-print: rust-brown.
Spores: medium sized, golden yellow, thick-walled and broadly ellipsoid, and 8-10 × 5-6 µm in size.
Cystidia: absent.
Habitat & Distribution: On worked wood in buildings and less commonly in timber-yards. It can be found throughout the year.
General Information: This fungus forms fan-like structures and strands of mycelium which pass along beams and joists and through plaster. Where there is a bad case of dry-rot, the room or building will have an unpleasant musty smell and when actually growing the fungus exudes droplets of water on the mycelium and fruit-body, i.e. weeping, hence the name ‘lacrymans’—weepy. It is a very important and destructive agent causing damage to floors and skirting boards, to joists and beams. It is a frequent pest of old houses and therefore of many of our cities. This fungus does not appear to have been found in the wild in Europe, but there is a record from the Himalayas. There are, however, very closely related species found on soil or wood-detritus. The Dry-rot fungus darkens the wood and produces a rot which makes the wood crack into small cubes or rectangular blocks.
This fungus was formerly placed in Merulius, but this genus should be retained for hyaline-spored fungi, e.g. M. tremellosus Fries, a species which grows even in winter on stumps of various trees in our woods.
Illustrations: LH 53; WD 1033.
Plate 50. Dry-rot fungi—leathery and tough spores borne in shallow irregular pores
