Cinnabar-red polypore (Pycnoporus cinnabarinus)
- Division: Basidiomycota (Basidiomycetes)
- Subdivision: Agaricomycotina (Agaricomycetes)
- Class: Agaricomycetes (Agaricomycetes)
- Subclass: Incertae sedis (of uncertain position)
- Order: Polyporales (Polypore)
- Family: Polyporaceae (Polyporaceae)
- Genus: Pycnoporus (Pycnoporus)
- Type: Pycnoporus cinnabarinus (Cinnabar-red polypore)
fruiting body: In youth, the fruiting body of the tinder fungus has a bright cinnabar-red color. In adulthood, the fungus fades and acquires an almost ocher color. Thick, semicircular fruiting bodies, 3 to 12 cm in diameter. May be oblong and slightly thinner towards the edge. Widely grown, cork. The pores retain a cinnabar-red color even in adulthood, while the surface and pulp of the tinder fungus become reddish-ocher. The fruiting body is annual, but dead mushrooms can persist for a long time, as long as circumstances permit.
Pulp: red color, rather quickly becomes a cork consistency. Spores are tubular, medium in size. Spore powder: white.
Spread: Rarely seen. Fruiting from July to November. It grows on dead branches, stumps and trunks of deciduous tree species. The fruiting bodies persist through the winter.
Edibility: for food, the cinnabar-red tinder fungus (Pycnoporus cinnabarinus) is not used, since it belongs to the genus of tinder fungi.
Similarity: This variety of tinder fungus is so remarkable and not repeated, due to its bright color, that it can hardly be confused with other tinder fungi growing in our country. At the same time, it has some similarities with Pycnoporellus fulgens, mainly in bright color, but this species grows on coniferous trees.