Antrodia

Antrodia is a genus of fungi in the family Fomitopsidaceae. Antrodia species have fruit bodies that typically resupinate (i.e., lying flat or spread out on the growing surface), with the hymenium exposed to the outside; the edges may be turned so as to form narrow brackets. Most species are found in temperate and boreal forests, and cause brown rot. Antrodia are effused-resupinate, that is, they lie stretched out on the growing surface with the hymenium exposed on the outer side, but turned out at the edges to form brackets. When present, these brackets are typically white or pale brown. The pores on the surface of the hymenium may be round or angular. The context is white or pale. All species cause brown-rot. Typically, basidiospores are thin-walled, cylindrical, and narrowly ellipsoidal or fusiform in shape. Most species grow on the wood of coniferous trees, except for A. albida, which grows on the dead wood of deciduous trees. In order to reliably identify the various species and strains of medicinal Antrodia, genetic markers have been developed and phylogenetic analyses performed. These analyses have demonstrated that there are three distinct phylogenetic lineages within the genus Antrodia. The modern definition of the genus follows the description given by Gilbertson and Ryvarden (1986), in their monograph North American Polypores. Roughly twenty-nine species are known from Europe, 21 species in North America, and 18 species in East Asia, although more new species have been reported since the time of these publications.