Polypores Or Shelf Mushrooms
By: Anonymous

About

Polypores Or Shelf Mushrooms live deep in the old growth forests of Washington and Oregon, grow as large as six feet in diameter and arecharacterized by shelf-like, woody conks with porous undersides from which specialized cells, known as basidia, produce spores.

Information
Translations: Polypores Vai Plaukts Sēnes, Polypores arba lentynoje Grybai, Polypores sau raft Ciuperci, Gljive Polypores ili policu, Polypores Hoặc Kệ Nấm, Huby lub półkach Grzyby, Polypores of een plank Paddestoelen, Polypores या शेल्फ मशरूम, Cogumelos Polypores ou prateleira, Или Polypores шельфа Грибы, Polypores Ή Διάρκεια Μανιτάρια, Polypores أو الجرف الفطر, Polypores 또는 선반 버섯, Polypores nebo na polici Houby, Polypores Atau Shelf Jamur, Polypores O salansanan mushrooms, 多孔菌或架子蘑菇, O poliporos Plataforma Bolets, Polypores ali polico Gobe, Polypores alebo na policu Huby, Polypores o su uno scaffale di funghi, Polypores או מדף פטריות, Polypores Eller Uppställning Svampar, Полипорес Или Полица печуркама, Polyporesまたは棚キノコ, Champignons polypores ou une étagère, Porlinge oder Regal Pilze, Polypores eller hylde Svampe, Polypores Eller Hylle sopper, O poliporos Plataforma Setas, Або Polypores шельфу Гриби, Käävät tai hyllylle Sienet, Polypores Или Срок на гъби


Physical Description
Polypores are a group of tough, leathery poroid mushrooms similar to boletes, but typically lacking a distinct stalk. The technical distinction between the two types of mushrooms is that polypores do not have the spore-bearing tissue continuous along the entire underside of the mushroom. 


Selecting and Buying
Procuring: Polypores are often found on rotting logs, and are rot-resistant to the extent that they themselves often last long enough for moss to grow on them. Rot-resistance is due to the mushroom's ability to produce compounds with anti-pathogenic activity.


Preparation and Use
Two medicinal mushroom polypores in use today are Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi or Lingzhi) and Trametes versicolor. Beyond their traditional use in herbal medicine, contemporary research has suggested many applications polypores for the treatment of illnesses related to the immune system and cancer recovery.
In studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, some polypore mushrooms have been found to be useful in treating a wide variety of ailments, including bacterial infections, viral infections, cancer, allergies, diabetes mellitus, and neurological problems



Social/Political
Edible polypores are commonly found in nature and according to mycologist Steve Brill, there are no reports of poisonous species. Some polypores have been used in ritual and for utilitarian purposes for ages; the famous Ötzi the Iceman was found carrying two different polypore species.