Laetiporus sulphureus

Laetiporus sulphureus

The sulphur polypore or sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Murrill, 1920) is a mushroom belonging to the Polyporaceae family.

Systematics –
Domain Eukaryota,
Kingdom Fungi,
Division Basidiomycota,
Subdivision Agaricomycotina,
Class Agaricomycetes,
Subclass Incertae sedis,
Order Polyporales,
Family Polyporaceae,
Genus Laetiporus,
Species L. sulphureus.
The term basionym is:
– Boletus sulphureus Bull.
The terms are synonymous:
– Agarico-carnis flammula Paulet;
– Agarico-pulpa styptica Paulet;
– Agaricus speciosus Battarra, 1755;
– Boletus amaricans Pers., 1801;
– Boletus caudicinus Scop.;
– Boletus caudicinus Scop. ex Pollini;
– Boletus citrinus J.J.Planer;
– Boletus citrinus Lumn.;
– Boletus coriaceus Huds.;
– Boletus lingua-cervina Schrank;
– Boletus ramosus Bull.;
– Boletus ramosus Bull. ex Merat;
– Boletus sulphureus Mérat, 1821;
– Boletus tenax Bolton;
– Boletus tenax Lightf.;
– Calvatia versispora Lloyd;
– Cerinomyces aurantiacus Pat.;
– Ceriomyces aurantiacus (Pat.) Sacc.;
– Ceriomyces neumanii Bres.;
– Cladomeris casearius (Fr.) Quél.;
– Cladomeris imbricata var. ramosa (Bull.) Gillot & Lucand;
– Cladomeris sulphurea (Bull.) Bigeard & H.Guill.;
– Cladomeris sulphurea var. casearia (Fr.) Bigeard & Guillemin;
– Cladomeris sulphurea var. ramosa (Bull.) Quél.;
– Cladoporus fulvus Chevall.;
– Cladoporus ramosus (Bull.) Pers., 1818;
– Cladoporus sulphureus (Bull.) Teixeira;
– Cladosporus fulvus Chevall.;
– Grifola sulphurea (Bull.) Pilát;
– Grifola sulphurea f. conglobata Pilát;
– Grifola sulphurea f. ramosa (Bull.) Pilát;
– Grifola sulphurea subsp. conglobata Pilát, 1936;
– Laetiporus cincinnatus (Morgan) Burds., Banik & T.J.Volk;
– Laetiporus speciosus Battarra;
– Laetiporus speciosus Battarra ex Murrill;
– Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Bondartsev & Singer;
– Laetiporus sulphureus f. albolabyrinthiporus (Rea) Bondartsev;
– Laetiporus sulphureus f. aurantiacus (Pat.) Bondartsev, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus f. imbricatus (Fr.) Bondarzew;
– Laetiporus sulphureus f. imbricatus Domański;
– Laetiporus sulphureus f. ramosus (Bull.) Bondartsev;
– Laetiporus sulphureus f. zerovae Bondartseva;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. albolabyrinthiporus (Rea) Bondartsev, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. aporus (Bourdot & Galzin) Bondartsev, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. aurantiacus (Pat.) Bondartsev, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. conglobatus (Pilát) Bondartsev, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. imbricatus (Fr.) Bondartsev, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. imbricatus Domanski, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. ramosus (Quél.) Bondartsev, 1953;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. sulphureus;
– Laetiporus sulphureus subsp. zerovae Bondartseva, 1972;
– Laetiporus versisporus (Lloyd) Imazeki;
– Leptoporus casearius (Fr.) Quél.;
– Leptoporus caudicinus (Scop.) Quél.;
– Leptoporus imbricatus var. casearius (Fr.) Quél.;
– Leptoporus ramosus (Bull.) Quél.;
– Leptoporus sulphureus (Bull.) Quél.;
– Leptoporus sulphureus var. ramosus (Bull.) Quél.;
– Merisma sulphureum (Bull.) Gillet;
– Polypilus casearius (Fr.) P.Karst.;
– Polypilus caudicinus (Schaeff. ex J.Schröt.) P.Karst.;
– Polypilus sulphureus (Bull.) P.Karst.;
– Polyporellus caudicinus (Schaeff. ex Scop.) P.Karst., 1905;
– Polyporellus caudicinus (Scop.) P.Karst. ex Sacc. & Trotter;
– Polyporellus rubricus (Berk.) P.Karst.;
– Polyporus candicinus (Scop.) J.Schröt.;
– Polyporus casearius Fr.;
– Polyporus caudicinus (Scop.) Murrill;
– Polyporus caudicinus Schaeff.;
– Polyporus caudicinus Schaeff. ex J.Schröt.;
– Polyporus caudicinus var. todarii (Inzenga) Sacc.;
– Polyporus ceratoniae Risso;
– Polyporus ceratoniae Risso ex Barla, 1859;
– Polyporus cincinnatus Morgan;
– Polyporus cincinnatus var. proliferus Peck;
– Polyporus citrinus Pers., 1825;
– Polyporus imbricatus var. ramosus (Bull.) Duby;
– Polyporus ramosus (Bull.) Gray;
– Polyporus rostafinskii Błoński;
– Polyporus rubricus Berk.;
– Polyporus sulphureus (Bull.) Fr.;
– Polyporus sulphureus f. aporus Bourdot & Galzin;
– Polyporus sulphureus f. ramosus (Bull.) Bourdot & Galzin;
– Polyporus sulphureus subsp. albolabyrinthiporus Rea, 1922;
– Polyporus sulphureus subsp. aporus Bourdot & Galzin;
– Polyporus sulphureus var. albolabyrinthiporus Rea;
– Polyporus sulphureus var. cochlearius Kalchbr.;
– Polyporus sulphureus var. glomeratus Peck;
– Polyporus sulphureus var. overholtsii H.R.Rosen;
– Polyporus todarii Inzenga;
– Ptychogaster aurantiacus Pat.;
– Ptychogaster aureus Lloyd;
– Ptychogaster versisporus (Lloyd) Lloyd;
– Sistotrema sulphureum (Bull.) Rebent.;
– Sistotrema sulphureum var. retigerum Bourdot & Galzin;
– Sporotrichum versisporum (Lloyd) Stalpers;
– Stereum speciosum Fr.;
– Tyromyces sulphureus (Bull.) Donk.

Etymology –
The term Laetiporus comes from the Latin laétus, meaning happy, cheerful, bright, and from the Greek pórus, meaning pore, for the bright color of the pores.
The specific epithet sulphureus comes from the Latin meaning sulfurous, due to the yellow-orange color of the entire basidioma.

Geographic Distribution and Habitat –
Laetiporus sulphureus is a mushroom widely distributed in Europe and North America, although its range may be limited to areas east of the Rocky Mountains. It grows on dead or mature broadleaf trees and has been reported from a wide variety of host trees, such as Quercus, Prunus, Pyrus, Populus, Salix, Robinia and Fagus, occasionally also from conifers, from August to October or later, sometimes as early as June. In the Mediterranean region, this species is usually found on Ceratonia and Eucalyptus. It can usually be found growing in groups.

Recognition –
Laetiporus sulphureus is a mushroom with a sessile fruiting body, fan-shaped, with multiple overlapping receptacles; each receptacle is of medium thickness, with a margin of a few millimeters thick; the upper surface is yellow-pink in color, turning red-orange, with radiating grooves and striae; sulfur-colored underneath; 10-40 cm in diameter. It is a mushroom that presents itself with several overlapping caps, which together can reach considerable dimensions of up to 20 and exceptionally 45 kg in weight.
The tubes are sulfur-yellow in color, very short, 1-3 mm.
The pores are circular or ovoid, very small and sulfur-yellow in color.
The flesh is succulent and yellowish in the young mushroom, becoming white and fragile with age, with a strong, mushroom-like, pleasant odor and a mild or bitterish flavor.
Under the microscope, spores of 5-7 x 3.5-5 µm are identified, ovoid, smooth, hyaline, white in mass.
It is easily recognizable by the typical sulphurous colors it takes on.

Cultivation –
Laetiporus sulphureus is not a cultivated mushroom.

Uses and Traditions –
Laetiporus sulphureus is a mushroom known by various names. In Italy it is called carob mushroom, sulphur mushroom; in Spain: políporo azufrado; in France it is known as Polypore soufré; in Germany: schwefel-porling; in the United Kingdom and in Anglo-Saxon countries as: chicken of the woods, mushroom chicken, sulphur polypore, sulphur shelf.
This mushroom was first described as Boletus sulphureus by the French mycologist Pierre Bulliard in 1789. It has had many synonyms and was given its current name in 1920 by the American mycologist William Murrill.
It is a saprophytic fungus and occasionally a weak parasite, causing brown cube-shaped rot in the heartwood of the trees on which it grows. After infection, the wood is initially discolored from yellowish to red, but later becomes red-brown and brittle. In the final stages of decay, the wood can be rubbed like dust between the fingers.
Unlike many shelf mushrooms, it is edible when young, although adverse reactions have been reported.
Surveys in North America have shown that there are several related species within what has been considered L. sulphureus and that the true L. sulphureus may be restricted to regions east of the Rocky Mountains. Phylogenetic analyses of ITS and rDNA sequences of the large nuclear subunit and the small mitochondrial subunit from North American collections have delineated five distinct clades within the central Laetiporus clade. Clade I of Sulphureus contains isolates of white-pored L. sulphureus, while clade II of Sulphureus contains isolates of yellow-pored L. sulphureus.
This mushroom has in the past been thought to be responsible, especially in the USA, for occasional gastrointestinal syndromes. From more recent views, poisonings by this mushroom seem instead to be due to Laetiporus species very similar to sulphureus such as L. conifericola, which grows on conifers, and L. gilbertsonii, which grows on eucalyptus. The latter two are the main responsible for idiosyncratic toxic reactions attributed to this genus.
Recent research has established that there is no presence, at the biochemical level, of substances dangerous to health. Nevertheless, it is still recommended, as a good practice, to cook it thoroughly, as rare cases of poisoning have been reported after consuming the mushroom raw or undercooked (Appleton & al. (1988) and Jordan (1995).
It has a consistency and taste, similar to chicken meat, which has given it the common name of chicken of the woods in Anglo-Saxon countries.

Preparation Method –
Laetiporus sulphureus is a mushroom that once certain of the determination has been made can be consumed after cooking thoroughly, as, as mentioned, rare cases of poisoning have been reported after consuming the mushroom raw or undercooked.

Guido Bissanti

Sources
– Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
– GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
– Cetto B., 2008. I funghi dal vero, Saturnia, Trento.
– Pignatti S., 1982. Flora d’Italia, Edagricole, Bologna.
– Conti F., Abbate G., Alessandrini A., Blasi C. (eds.), 2005. An annotated checklist of the Italian vascular flora, Palombi Editore.

Photo source:
– https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/351407419/original.jpeg

Warning: The pharmaceutical applications and alimurgic uses are indicated for informational purposes only, they do not represent in any way a medical prescription; therefore, any responsibility for their use for curative, aesthetic or nutritional purposes is declined.