Phellinus ellipsoideus (formerly Fomitiporia ellipsoidea) is a species of polypore fungus in the family Hymenochaetaceae, a specimen of which produced the largest fungal fruit body ever recorded. Found in China, the fruit bodies produced by the species are brown, woody basidiocarps that grow on dead wood, where the fungus feeds as a saprotroph. The basidiocarps are perennial, allowing them to grow very large under favourable circumstances. They are resupinate, measuring 30 centimetres (12 in) or more in length, though typically extending less than a centimetre from the surface of the wood. P. ellipsoideus produces distinct ellipsoidal spores, after which it is named, and unusual setae. These two features allow it to be readily differentiated microscopically from other, similar species. Chemical compounds isolated from the species include several steroidal compounds. These may have pharmacological applications, but further research is needed. The species was named in 2008 by Bao-Kai Cui and Yu-Cheng Dai based on collections made in Fujian Province. It was placed in the genus Fomitiporia, but later analysis suggests that it is more closely related to Phellinus species. It was revealed in 2011 that a very large fruit body, measuring up to 1,085 cm (427 in) in length, had been found on Hainan Island. The specimen, which was 20 years old, was estimated to weigh between 400 and 500 kilograms (880 and 1,100 lb). This was markedly larger than the previously largest recorded fungal fruit body, a specimen of Rigidoporus ulmarius found in the United Kingdom that had a circumference of 425 cm (167 in). The findings were formally published in September 2011, but attracted international attention from the mainstream press prior to this.
Taxonomy and phylogenetics The species was first described in 2008 by Bao-Kai Cui and Yu-Cheng Dai, both of the Beijing Forestry University. Five specimens of the then-unknown species were collected during field work in the Wanmulin Nature Reserve (27°03′N 118°08′E), Jian'ou, Fujian Province. The pair named the species Fomitiporia ellipsoidea in an article in the journal Mycotaxon. The specific name ellipsoidea is from the Latin meaning "ellipsoid", and refers to the shape of the spores. Species of the order Hymenochaetales, to which this taxon belongs, make up 25% of the over 700 species of polypore found in China. Phylogenetic analysis of large subunit and internal transcribed spacer DNA sequence data, the results of which were published in 2012, concluded that the species then known as F. ellipsoidea was closely related to Phellinus gabonensis, P. caribaeo-quercicolus and the newly described P. castanopsidis. The four species share morphological characteristics, and form a monophyletic clade. This clade resolved more closely with the Phellinus type species P. igniarius than it did with the Fomitiporia type species F. langloisii, and so the authors proposed a transference of F. ellipsoidea to Phellinus, naming the new combination Phellinus ellipsoideus. The taxonomic databases Index Fungorum and MycoBank list Phellinus ellipsoideus as the correct binomial, though some mycologists consider Fomitiporia to be a synonym of Phellinus anyway.
Description
Phellinus ellipsoideus produces resupinate fruit bodies that are hard and woody, whether fresh or dry. The original description characterized them as measuring up to 30 centimetres (12 in) "or more" in length, 20 cm (7.9 in) in width, and extending 8 mm (0.3 in) from the wood on which they grow at their thickest point. The outermost layer is typically yellow to yellowish-brown, measuring 2 mm (0.08 in) in thickness. The shiny surface of the hymenium, the spore-producing section of the fruit body, is covered in pores and ranges in colour from yellow-brown to rust-brown. There are between 5 and 8 pores per millimetre. The tubes are up to 8 mm (0.3 in) in depth, have the same colouration as the surface of the hymenium, and are distinctively layered. They are also hard and woody. The very thin yellow-brown layer of flesh measures less than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) in width. As with much of the rest of the fruit body, it is firm, solid, and reminiscent of wood. The fruit bodies lack any odour or taste.
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