Edible, therapeutic and toxic mushrooms
6
HEMLOCK VARNISH SHELF
Ganoderma tsugae
Frequency
Frequent
Thérapeutique
Habitat
Coniferous trees, mainly hemlock, rarely on birches.
Cap
Reddish brown, shiny and varnished, covered with a layer of brown powder at maturity.
Margin
White growing margin sometimes with brownish yellow tint.
Tubes
Round to angular pores, difficult to not visible, 4 to 6 per mm. Brown tubes when cut.
Pores and Pore Surface
White becoming reddish brown with age.
Stalk
Often lateral and vertical, well developed and concolorous with the cap, reddish brown, lacquered.
Flesh
Stained or zoned flesh of pale fawn to greyish brown colors, with a darker area near the layer of tubes. Stipe flesh concolorous and continuous with the cap. In very old specimens, the flesh turns pale brown.
Unfit for human consumption
The ideal harvesting time is before the fruitbodies emit their spores. In the fall, the fruitbodies are dead and it is too late.
Comments
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The trees on which we find the Lackered Polypore and the Hemlock Varnish Shelf seems to be the criterion for identifying these two species, except for those found on birches. The criteria concerning the color of the cap margin and the number of pores per mm are contradictory in the descriptions given by various authors and according to our own observations.
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