Fomitopsis pinicola
Fomitopsis pinicola, is a stem decay fungus common on softwood and hardwood trees. Its conk (fruit body) is known as the red-belted conk. The species is common throughout temperate Europe and Asia. It is a decay fungus that serves as a small-scale disturbance agent in coastal rainforest ecosystems. It influences stand structure and succession in temperate rainforests. It performs essential nutrient cycling functions in forests. As well as a key producer of brown rot residues that are stable soil components in coniferous forest ecosystems. It has been reported that mushrooms have significant antioxidant activity. Description The cap is hoof-shaped or triangular, and sometimes shelflike. It is hard and tough, and up to 30 cm or more across and 15 cm thick. Its surface is more or less smooth, at first orange-yellow with a white margin, later dark reddish to brown and then frequently with an orange margin. The pore surface is pale yellow to leather-brown, 3–4 pores per mm. It grows as thick shelves on live and dead coniferous or (less commonly) deciduous trees. The spores are pale yellow and smooth. The species also grows as a layer of tubes on the bottom of fallen wood. The fruiting body of