Ganoderma applanatum

Scientific name:   Ganoderma applanatum (Pers.) Pat.
Derivation of name:   Ganoderma means having a "shiny
or lustrous skin"; applanatum means " flattened" and refers
to the flat, shelf-like appearance (applanate) of the fungus.
Synonymy:   Fomes applanatus (Pers. ex Wallr.) Gill.;
Polyporus applanatus (Pers.) Wallr.
Common names:   Artist's conk.
Phylum:   Basidiomycota
Order:   Polyporales
Family:   Ganodermataceae
Occurrence on wood substrate:  Saprobic or parasitic;
solitary or scattered or in overlapping clusters on decaying
deciduous (rarely conifer) wood, sometimes living trees;
year-round. 
Dimensions:  Caps up to 75 cm wide.  
Upper surface:  Concentrically furrowed; gray to grayish-
black or brown; white margin when growing; surface hard,
crusty, finely cracked and wrinkled; dull.
Pore surface: White, staining brown where touched; pores
minute, 5-6 per mm.
Edibility: Inedible.
Comments:  This is the well-known Artist's conk, used by
artists to etch drawings. See Figure 6.

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Figure 1. Ganoderma applanatum fruiting on a stump

Figure 2. Note how flat (applanate) these conks are.

Figure 3. The dull brown color on the top of the caps is due
to the deposition of billions of brown spores on the cap surfaces.

Figure 4. Ganoderma applanatum is a perennial species.
Sectioning a cap usually reveals several clearly defined
layers of tubes.

Figure 5. The white pore surface is easily smudged
by handling.

Figure 6. In the hands of an artist, the brown-staining reaction
of the pores yields a work of art. This is an example of
pyrography or "writing with fire" by Marie Heerkens. Marie
writes about her work in the Winter 2005 issue of Mushroom
the Journal.