EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Orange Bracket (Pycnoporus sp., prob. P. coccineus),
Family Polyporaceae, Order Polyporales, Class Basidiomycetes
Northern Queensland, Australia

Explanation:   Adorning this log on the floor of a rainforest in northern Queensland, Australia, are these brilliant orange brackets.  These are the fruiting bodies of the aptly named "orange bracket," a wood-decaying fungus.  

As with other polypore fungi, the fruiting bodies of orange bracket consist of several types of hyphae which bind together tightly and produce a long-persisting bracket.   

In Australia, the desert Aborigines apparently have used Pycnoporus fungi to cure sores of the mouth and lips.  Indeed, the fungus has been found to contain antibiotics.  The species also has been used to decolorize olive oil mill wastewaters.  

It's always amazing how versatile and useful are the living elements of rainforests, including plants and plant allies.  (And strictly speaking, fungi, including mushrooms, are not plants per se).  

 
Acknowledgment:
   Thanks to master mycologist Dr. Jim Trappe for the identification.  Dr. Trappe noted that identification would be made firm by knowing how the spore-bearing surface appears.  (Unfortunately, I failed to take closeup photos of that surface.  But there are only two species of Pycnoporus in Australia, and it's likely to be this species.)

Information:
   Jaouani, A., F. Guillen, M. J. Penninckx, A. T. Martinez, and M. J. Martinez.  2005.  Role of Pycnoporus coccineus laccase in the degradation of aromatic compounds in olive oil mill wastewater.  Enzyme and Microbial Technology 36(2005):478-486.