Draft:Lentinus brumalis

Lentinus brumalis is a species of fungus in the family Polyporacea e. It causes white rot on dead hardwood.

Macroscopic Characteristics
Lentinus brumalis has a round, broadly convex cap that has a diameter of 1.5-10 cm, and is depressed in the middle. The surface of the cap is dry, though rarely hairy. It ranges from yellow-brown to dark brown in colour. The margin of the cap is often inrolled, particularly in young specimens.

There are 3 mm deep pores on the white to cream underside of the cap. They are spaced 1-3 pores per mm2. They have moderately wide, (0.5-)1-1.5 mm large and roundish to almost diamond-shaped pores, which run down the stem a little and are therefore slightly elongated. The spore print is white.

The stalk is 2.5-5 cm long and 2-8 mm thick. It is ochre brown, occasionally with red tints and is generally lighter than the cap. The dry surface of the cap is either smooth or finely felted to slighty scaly. The flesh is white and its consistency is tender to elastic. It does not have a particular taste or odor, and is inedible.

Microscopic characteristics
The spores are elliptic to cylindrical and measure 5–7 ×1.5–2.5&#x20;μm. Clamp connections are found throughout all tissue. The hyphal system is dimitic.

Similar Species
A potential look-alike, Lentinus strictipes, can be distinguished from Lentinus brumalis as it does not fruit until April, as well as possessing smaller, and finer pores, that are rarely larger than 0.5 mm. A closer look-alike, Lentinus arcularius, differs from Lentinus brumalis in its larger pores, which are up to 2.5 mm wide, and easily recognizable even on young fruiting bodies.

Ecology and Distribution
It is saprobic on dead hardwoods, in particular, birch. It is found across North America where it grows June through October. It also grows in Northern Europe, where it fruits in late October, and March.

Research
Cultures of Lentinus brumalis were brought onto the Salyut-5 orbital station, as well as the Salyut 6 orbital station and the earth satellite Cosmo 690, to research the effects of weightlessness, space orientation and light on the geotropism and formation of its fruiting bodies. In the absence of gravity and light, the stipe grew strongly twisted into a spiral or ball, and caps did not from, though in the presence of light, there was little anatomical difference from control samples. However, on Salyut-6, the samples in the dark, formed no fruiting bodies.

Lentinus brumalis has also been studied for its potential ability to degrade dibutyl phthalate, or DBP. A study in 2007 reported that DBP was nearly eliminated from a culture medium of P. brumalis within 12 days, potentially through transesterification and de-esterification.