Important Characteristic

Comment from Judy 10/13/2017:

Albatrellis avellaneus and A. ovinus, depending on the book you use, consider them the same or variant of each other. There is some difference in the spores tho. They are not too common, but in the Forest Service handbook of Strategy One species. They maybe aren't that rare don't seem to fruit every year. Also, because they may be mycorrhyzal, the plant stays in the ground and can reproduce again the following year. A. ovinus is considered more common, but the two species are often mistaken for each other. A. ovinus is found as far east as the Rocky mountains. A. avellaneus is a coastal species however, from northern California to Friday Harbor and I suspect Vancouver Island.

For the hymenium, look at photo 3 of your enlarged ones, and look at those tiny roundish light colored "holes" all over the photo - those are the pores! The next pic down shows a thin dark line at the left edge of the specimen - that is the pore layer. #1 of the small images are the pores. They look like air holes in chipped cream. #22 of the upside down cap slice - that thin rough edge on the upturned edge of the cap highlighted by the dark background of your knife also shows the pore layer.

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Your pictures are very good and the one showing the pore layer, you can even see the pores! They are kind of white and lighter than the overall hymenial layer. The pores are very tiny and better seen with a dissecting scope or magnifying glass; but they are there. Albatrellis has very tiny pores and spores, and the pores are more that than tubes, being only one thin layer. That feature distinquished Albatrellis from most other polypores that have softer flesh. Where you have cut through the cap to distinguish the flesh and "tubes" or pores, you need a magnifier and good strong light to distinuish the two features from each other.

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