_General Information_: This common _Ganoderma_ is perennial and distinguished from other polypore groups by the complex spores. _G. applanatum_ (Fries) Karsten is closely related, but differs in the thinner fruit-body with a thin margin, and the pale cinnamon-brown flesh; the flesh of both species contains thick-walled binding and strengthening hyphae as well as the generative hyphae. So sensitive are the pores to bruising that if a drawing or writing is executed on the lower surface with a pin, needle or similar sharp instrument and the fungus dried, the red-brown lines produced are retained and the pattern preserved. Several fungus paintings prepared in this way were made in the early part of the century, many beautiful ones having originated in the eastern part of North America. [Illustration: Plate 46. Woody fungi: Spores white and borne within tubes or on thickened plates] _Fomes fomentarius_ whose important characters are described below has frequently been confused with _Ganoderma europaeum_. It is common growing on birch in Scotland, but is less frequent south of Perth, and then grows probably more frequently on beech which is similar to the pattern found on the continent of Europe. However, it has grown in former periods in England on birch, for it was found commonly amongst birch timbers in an excavation of an early Mesolithic lake side village near Scarborough, Yorkshire. _Illustrations_: NB 125³; WD 160². Some perennial polypores. Plate 48. ~Fomes fomentarius~ (Fries) Kickx Tinder fungus Cap: 90-300 mm, hoof-shaped, thick, broadly attached to the substrate, zoned with yellow-brown and shades of grey; its margin is blunt and fawn or pale brownish. Tubes: layered, cinnamon-brown with pale cinnamon pores with a whitish bloom. Flesh: cinnamon-brown or buff and woolly. Spore-print: white. Spores: elongate, ellipsoid, very long, hyaline under the microscope, 15-18 × 5-6 µm, and not ornamented. The flesh contains both thick- and thin-walled hyphae. It grows on birch and less frequently on beech. The flesh has been used in dentistry, in manufacturing fancy articles, such as mats, and was the basis of the tinder used in flint-boxes. _Illustrations_: LH 65; NB 117¹; WD 100¹. ~Phellinus igniarius~ (Fries) Quélet ‘Willow Fomes’, grows on willows and causes their heart-rot. It is a rust-brown, woody fungus with a hard crust and brown tubes and flesh. The spore-print is white and composed of small, spherical, hyaline spores, 5-6 µm in diameter. The flesh contains thin- and thick-walled hyphae. _Illustrations_: LH 63; WD 99³. [Illustration: Plate 47. Woody Fungi: Spores brown and borne within tubes--fruit-body perennial]