Orange Pore Fungus

Orange Pore Fungus was first identified in Madagascar c1940. It has since been found in many countries around the world, first appearing in Australia in the 1950s.

Despite it being a beneficial saprophytic species that grows on dead wood, in many quarters Orange Pore Fungus is regarded as a weed species because of its capacity to displace native fungi. 

Orange Pore Fungus is easy to find in most of the popular West Gippsland ‘wet forest’ reserves – Uralla at Trafalgar, Mt Worth SP Allambee, Nangara at Jindivick and Glen Nayook, etc. Its bright orange colour and the fact it grows in colonies, makes it very obvious; it looks like little orange ‘ping-pong’ bats.

Map credit: ala.org.au

The pore pattern of the underside is visually striking.

The scientific name, Favolaschia calocera, refers to its characteristic features and to Laschia, a genus named after Wilhelm Gottfried Lasch (German mycologist active in the early 1800s) into which many similar species were initially assigned. Fav-: from faveolatus meaning finely honeycombed, laschia: after W.G. Lasch, calli-, calo-: beautiful, cera: waxy, wax-gold.