(Polyporales) An order of the * Hymenomycetes containing fungi that produce a large basidiocarp, which rarely contains gills. It contains over 1000 species in some 375 genera. Four main groups are recognized depending on the structure of the basidiocarp: the polypores or bracket fungi, which grow out in a bracket-like manner from both living and dead wood (e.g. dryad's saddle, Polyporus squamosus); the club fungi, in which the fruiting body consists of a number of finger or clublike projections (e.g. Clavulinopsis helvola); fungi in which there are many tooth or spinelike projections from the basidium (e.g. hedgehog fungus, Hydnum erinaceus); and fungi in which the basidium is more or less flattened (e.g. earth fan, Telephora terrestris). These groups have been classified as families but it is now realized that these are artificial. |
