Cellar Fungus Guide
Coniophora puteana
Appearance
- Mycelium – first whitish–yellow, later yellowish–brown.
- Strands – yellowish–brown at first, later dark brown.
- Sporophore – creamy–yellow at first, later olive–brown with a creamy margin.
- Individual spores – 0.01mm long and pale yellow–brown. Bulk spores – olive–brown.
Lifecycle
- The growing body of microscopic threads (known as hyphae) invade the cells of the wood to form a vegetative surface (or mycelium).
- Strands may be thick and felted on wood and extensive on walls. The sporophore formed of strands is a thin, plate–like skin with smooth irregular bumps.
- Often leaves a thin sound skin on timber hiding the decayed centre, for this reason it can be difficult to detect.
Habits
- This may attack timber in buildings where there has been serious water ingress, through such things as leaking roof tiles, broken guttering, failed plumbing and rising damp.
