(Xylobolus subpileatus)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
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Description |
Bacon of the Woods is a common, widespread, wood decaying, bracket fungus. It occurs worldwide on every continent except Antarctica. It is rare in most of those areas, but it is quite common in eastern North America. In the United States it occurs from Maine to Florida, west to Minnesota and eastern Texas. It is uncommon in Minnesota. Bacon of the Woods is found in deciduous and mixed forests. It grows on fallen hardwood trees, especially oak, and especially on fallen logs and stumps that are long dead and well decayed. It is saprobic, obtaining its nutrients from dead wood. It causes white rot, creating a honeycomb pattern of decay in the wood. Bacon of the Woods is a highly variable fungus. It can occur as a white crust, appearing as if spray painted on a log (crusticose). It can occur as a plaque, closely appressed to the surface with only a small margin extending to form a rudimentary cap (effuse-reflexed). Or it can occur shelf-like, attached at one side directly to the substrate with no stalk (bracket). Adjacent brackets sometimes fuse together creating a long, strap-like shelf. The bracket is thin, semicircular or fan shaped, ¾″ to 8″ (2 to 20 cm) wide, and ⅜″ to 1⅜″ (1.0 to 3.5 cm) deep. When young, the texture is leathery, and the upper surface is densely covered with felty or matted woolly hair. As it ages, the hair gradually wears away. Older specimens are hard and hairless. The upper surface is concentrically zoned with ridges and varying shades of light brown, brown, dark brown, and reddish brown. The margin is light brown to brown, and it can be either flat or wavy. The underside (pore surface) is smooth and grayish orange, pale gray, or light brown when young. As it ages, it becomes bumpy, somewhat wrinkled, often concentrically ridged, and cracked. The margin is white. The pores are pale to dark brown, thin to thick walled, and up to ⅛″ (3 mm) deep. The flesh is edible but leathery or hard. |
Similar Species |
Habitat and Hosts |
Deciduous and mixed forests. Mostly oaks, but also other hardwoods. |
Ecology |
Season |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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1/1/2025 | ||
Occurrence |
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Uncommon in Minnesota |
Taxonomy |
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Kingdom |
Fungi (fungi) |
Subkingdom |
Dikarya |
Division |
Basidiomycota (club fungi) |
Subdivision |
Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms) |
Class |
Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies) |
Subclass |
Agaricomycetidae |
Order |
Russulales |
Family |
Stereaceae |
Genus |
Xylobolus |
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Subordinate Taxa |
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Synonyms |
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Hymenochaete tjibodensis Lloydella sepia Lloydella sepiacea Lloydella subpileata Stereum frustulatum ssp. subpileatum Stereum frustulatum var. subpileatum Stereum insigne Stereum scytale Stereum sepiaceum Stereum sepium Stereum subpileatum |
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Common Names |
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Bacon of the Woods |
Glossary
Saprobic
A term often used for saprotrophic fungi. Referring to fungi that obtain their nutrients from decayed organic matter.
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Lichen on downed tree. |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
Xylobolus subpileatus (Berk. & M.A. Curtis) Boidin |
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About
Trichosanthes subtilis |
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Created: 1/1/2025 Last Updated: © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved. |