= (L.) Fr., is a very common plant growing on
trunks and branches. It is more or less shelving, with a leaf-like
pileus, marked by concentric bands of different colors. =P. hirsutus=
Fr., is a somewhat thicker and more spongy plant, whitish or grayish in
color, with the upper surface tomentose with coarse hairs. =P.
cinnabarinus= (Jacq.) Fr., is shelving, spongy, pliant, rather thick,
cinnabar colored. It grows on dead logs and branches. It is sometimes
placed in the genus _Trametes_ under the same specific name.
=Polystictus pergamenus= Fr., is another common one growing on wood of
various trees. It is thin and very pliant when fresh, somewhat tomentose
above when young, with faint bands, and the tubes are often violet or
purple color, and they soon become deeply torn and lacerate so that they
resemble the teeth of certain of the hedgehog fungi.

[Illustration: PLATE 72, FIGURE 188.--Polyporus lucidus. Caps bright red
or chestnut color, with a hard shiny crust (1/6 natural size).
Copyright.]

=Polyporus lucidus= (Leys.) Fr. [_Fomes lucidus_ (Leys.) Fr.]--This
species is a very striking one because of the bright red or chestnut
color, the hard and brittle crust over the surface of the cap, which has
usually the appearance of having been varnished. It grows on trunks,
logs, stumps, etc., in woods or groves. The cap is 5--20 cm. in
diameter, and the stem is 5--20 cm. long, and 1--2 cm. in thickness. The
stem is attached to one side of the pileus so that the pileus is
lateral, though the stem is more or less ascending.

The =cap= is first yellowish when young, then it becomes blood red, then
chestnut color. The =stem= is the same color, and the =tubes= are not so
bright in color, being a dull brown. The substance of the plant is quite
woody and tough when mature. When dry it is soon attacked and eaten by
certain insects, which are fond of a number of fungi, so that they are
difficult to preserve in good condition in herbaria without great care.

The surface of the pileus is quite uneven, wrinkled, and coarsely
grooved, the margin sometimes crenate, especially in large specimens.
Figure 188 represents the plant growing on a large hemlock spruce stump
in the woods. The surface character of the caps and the general form can
be seen. This photograph was taken near Ithaca, N. Y.

=Polyporus applanatus= (Pers.) Fr. [_Fomes applanatus_ (Pers.)
Wallr.]--This plant is also one of the very common woody _Polyporaceae_.
It grows