Neolentinus lepideus

Neolentinus lepideus fruit bodies are tough, fleshy, agarics of variable size. The cap is at first convex and flattens with maturity while the margin remains enrolled. The cap may grow up to about {{Convert|13|cm|frac=4}}, while the stem grows to {{Convert|12|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} in height.{{cite book |author=Jordan |first=Michael |title=The Encyclopedia of Fungi of Britain and Europe |publisher=David & Charles |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-7153-0129-6 |page=329}}{{Cite book |last=Audubon |title=Mushrooms of North America |publisher=Knopf |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-593-31998-7 |pages=207}} The white, cream to pale-brown cap cuticle is distinctively covered with concentrically arranged dark scales which become denser towards the depressed cap centre.

The gills are white and their attachment to the stem is adnate to subdecurrent or decurrent. The gills and stipe can become dark reddish with age.{{cite book|last1=Trudell|first1=Steve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WevHvt6Tr8kC&pg=PA99|title=Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest|last2=Ammirati|first2=Joe|publisher=Timber Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-88192-935-5|series=Timber Press Field Guides|location=Portland, OR|pages=99}} The white stem is covered in dark scales in the region below the white ring. The odor is somewhat like anise, and the taste is indiscernible. The flesh is tough, increasingly so with maturity.

The spore print is white and the spores are cylindrical in shape. The spore dimensions are 8–12.5 by 3.5–5 μm.{{cite book |author=Bas C. |title=Volume 2 of Flora Agaricina Neerlandica: Critical Monographs on Families of Agarics and Boleti Occurring in the Netherlands | publisher=CRCPress | year=1990 | pages=90–91 | isbn=978-90-6191-971-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z-xGzC7Nic4C&q=neerlandica+lepideus&pg=PA27|access-date=2010-01-03}}

Neolentinus ponderosus is similar but has no partial veil, and thus no ring. Pleurotus levis grows on hardwoods, with a more fuzzy cap lacking scales.

The fruiting bodies of Neolentinus lepideus are found singly or in tufts emerging from dead and decaying coniferous wood, favouring pines (Pinus) including old stumps, logs, and timber. It may also be found in gardens, on man-made wooden structures such as old railroad ties, and in such unusual places as coal mines. Less frequently, it is also found on non-coniferous hardwood. The fungus's fruiting season is spring to autumn and it is common in Europe and North America.{{cite web | title=Lentinus lepideus at Rogers Mushrooms | publisher=Rogers Plants Ltd | url=http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6280.asp | access-date=January 3, 2010 }} In the latter, it appears from May to November (slightly shorter in the west). There have also been multiple reports of its occurrence in the Western Cape, South Africa.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ispotnature.org/node/825596|title=Lentinus lepideus|access-date=2016-12-24}}

Neolentinus lepideus has a saprotrophic mode of nutrition and is an important woodland decomposer and a cause of wet rot in building materials. The fungus has shown tolerance of wood treated with creosote and other preservatives, and has been used in experiments to evaluate the efficacy of treatment methods.{{cite journal | author=Duncan C., Deverall F. |year=1963 | title=Degradation of Wood Preservatives by Fungi | journal=Applied Microbiology | volume=12 | issue= 1| pages=57–62 |doi=10.1128/AM.12.1.57-62.1964 | pmid=16349644 | pmc=1058065}}

Some authors consider N. lepideus edible, although it requires cooking to soften.{{cite book|last1=Miller Jr.|first1=Orson K.|title=North American Mushrooms: A Field Guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi|last2=Miller|first2=Hope H.|publisher=FalconGuide|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7627-3109-1|location=Guilford, CN|pages=146|author-link1=Orson K. Miller Jr.}} While there have been no recorded poisonings, the fungus may come in contact with hazardous chemicals because its fruiting bodies tend to grow on human-made wooden structures, such as wooden railroad ties smeared with creosote.{{Verification needed|date=December 2024}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• [http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/gallery/DisplayBlock~bid~6280.asp Rogers Mushrooms species description]
• [http://morelmushroomhunting.com/lentinus_lepideus.htm Good quality images]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1513545}}

Category:Wood-decay fungi

Category:Gloeophyllales

Category:Fungi of Europe

Category:Fungi of North America

Category:Fungi described in 1985

Category:Fungus species