Rhodotus palmatus

Scientific name:  Rhodotus palmatus (Bull.) Maire
Derivation of name: Rhod- means "rosy" and otos means
"ear" (i.e., cap). Palm- means "palm" (as of the hand).
Synonyms:  Pleurotus palmatus (Bull.) Quel.
Common name(s):  Netted rhodotus.
Phylum:   Basidiomycota
Order:   Agaricales
Family: Physalacriaceae
Occurrence on wood substrate:  Saprobic; scattered or in
groups on dead deciduous wood, particularly maple and elm;
June through September.  
Dimensions: Caps 2.5-9 cm wide; stipes 2.5-5 cm long
and 3-5 mm thick.    
Cap:  Surface reddish to pinkish to salmon-orange; netted
(reticulate) with ridges and pits or (not uncommonly)
without ridges and pits. Flesh pinkish, gelatinous; cap
sometimes slimy.
Gills: Attached; pinkish.
Spore print: Pinkish.
Stipe: Reddish to pinkish; dry; eccentric to almost lateral.
Veil: Absent.
Comments: This species is circumboreal in distribution but
not usually reported as common in most localities. Most of
the photographs on this page were contributed by Carla
Wick, a freelance photographer who has the great pleasure
of regularly finding and photographing this species. Her
photographs of Rhodotus palmatus were featured in the
Fall 2011 issue of the journal Fungi. Carla may be
contacted at: SauriaMami@aol.com

More information at MushroomExpert.com:   

Figure 1. Rhodotus palmatus on dead hardwood.
Photo © Carla Wick.


Figure 2. Specimens showing much more reddish caps
than the specimens in Figure 1. Photo © Greg Thorn.

   
Figure 3. The cross-linked, lightly colored ridges and
pinkish cap surface of the pits can be quite striking and,
when present, are a distinctive characteristic of this
species. Photo © William Roody.


Figure 4. A specimen of Rhodotus palmatus found by two
of my former students. Photo © Timothy Swartz.

Figure 5. The photographer, Carla Wick, observes that
the beautiful wrinkles on the cap of this species require
an alternating dry/wet/dry/wet environment in order to
fully develop. If the environment stays wet, the caps
puff up like pink puffballs and the cap surface looks
like a thick gel. Photo © Carla Wick.


Figure 6. Two specimens of Rhodotus palmatus showing
the attached, pinkish gills characteristic of the species.
Photo © Carla Wick.


Figure 7. The cap edges are rolled inward on young
specimens. This view also shows lamellulae: the short
gills that do not extend the entire distance from the
cap edge to the stem. Photo © Carla Wick.


Figure 8. Netted rhodotus sometimes "bleeds" a pink to red
to orange colored liquid. The function of this fluid is
unknown. Photo © Carla Wick.


Figure 9. Older, crowded specimens of Rhodotus palmatus
lacking the typical convex cap shape and the conspicuous
reticulation of the cap surface. Photo © Carla Wick.