Ganoderma applanatum or painter’s mushroom (Ganoderma applanatum, syn.: Ganoderma lipsiense) is a very common mushroom from the lacquer porling family (Ganodermataceae).

The fruiting bodies contain comparatively little water and therefore shrink only slightly during drying. Processing into tea, powder or tinctures requires mechanical grinding, which most simple coffee grinders, vegetable graters or food processors cannot do. The texture of the dry fruiting bodies can be compared to the toughest cork. To obtain a powder from the mushroom is extremely difficult without industrial technology, even a granulate with 2-3 mm grain size requires a powerful motor rasp. Hobbyists help themselves e.g. with rasp discs for woodworking, which run on a flex.

-It is a tough bracket. With that said, Ganoderma applanatum can be made into stools and furniture if big enough.

Ganoderma applanatum was calculated that a large 18-pound bracket liberates 30 BILLION spores per day 6 months out of a year. That is equivalent to over 5 TRILLION spores produced annually. This is an extreme case where the bracket grew to an enormous size, but still, the calculation is astounding.

Ganoderma applanatum can be made into a piece of art. The underside of the bracket is normally white and very sensitive; if it is touched, even the slightest, there will be a bruise, which ends up looking like a dark spot. Artist’s realized this and started using the undersides of these brackets as canvas.

The perennial fruiting bodies can be found at any time of the year, sporulation starts in spring when the average temperature is higher than 6 °C, it continues throughout the warm season and ends with the first frost. Spore production occurs mainly at night and has a minimum over midday.

Because this fungus is immotile, Ganoderma applanatum relies on wind, insects, and animals for distributing spores. Wind dissemination is the number one way of dispersing the spores, but insects and animals also have a part. The spores can catch a ride on them to move to a different location.

Like other porlings and parasites, G.applanatum tolerates a well-amended substrate with a higher lime content. See my porling substrate…. Expect a several month incubation period and very slow growth.

Culture parameters are based on conditions found at sites where the fungus is found. 10°-18°C are considered conducive, as are high humidity levels.

1. Dissolve the malt extract and agar in distilled water.
2.  Sterilize the solution by autoclaving at 121°C for 15-20 minutes.
3. Pour the sterilized media into petri dishes or other containers under sterile conditions.
4. The Yeast is optional, but you can add it to any recipe for nutritions, same for Peptone.

beech and cottonwood, and more rarely of several other tree genera including alder, apple, elm, horse chestnut and horse chestnut, maple, oak, hickory, willow, western hemlock, Douglas fir, old or diseased olive and spruce

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150 g to 200 g per kg substrate

Depending on the location of Ganoderma applanatum, the diversity of other organisms varies. Since this fungus lives on and feeds on living or dead trees, it is found where deciduous trees would be found. Other organisms that live with this fungus include various species of insects, from spiders to mites. In my research, I came across the forked fungus beetle, Bolitotherus cornutus, in particular. This insect feeds on Ganoderma applanatum. This beetle also lays one to two eggs per day on its upper and lower surfaces, resulting in a total of eight to twelve eggs. If it is large enough, there may be a completely different ecosystem or habitat on or in one fruiting body. There are certain insects that live only on certain brackets. Some of these insects are so small that they live inside the pores. So you can only imagine what organisms depend on Ganoderma applanatum for food, shelter, and reproduction.

Spore formation occurs most frequently at night and has its lowest production value at midday. If the spores are on top of the hat, it's because the fungus creates a temperature difference, creating a specially created wind that pushes the spores upwards. It can also grow as a live sapwood pathogen, particularly on older trees that are sufficiently moist

Ganoderma applanatum is a (weak) parasite and saprobiont that occurs mainly on hardwoods. It is able to exploit the dying host tree until the final stage of decomposition and can therefore form fresh fruiting bodies or pore layers on both barked or unbarked still solid wood as well as on very heavily decayed wood. The host range of the species is considerable; in addition to various hardwoods, it can grow (although much less frequently) on coniferous wood. The main host in Germany is the copper beech. At lower altitudes, mainly poplar species are colonized, along with significantly fewer willows and oaks; copper beech is only very rarely colonized here. With increasing altitude, the importance of copper beech as a substrate increases, with sycamore being added at high altitudes. The flat Lackporling can be found in Germany in almost all forest communities. In addition, it occurs outside of forests, if appropriate substrate is available.

Ganoderma applanatum is widespread worldwide and is only absent in treeless regions. In Germany it is found only in the dry areas more rarely.

Mostly deciduous, mostly later decomposers, but occasionally also a dangerous weak parasite on living trees, causes white rot, perennial.

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Ganoderma applanatum is not suitable as an edible mushroom, although it is not poisonous, as food it is much too tough, of woody consistency and unsuitable for edible purposes due to its bitter constituents. Large consoles of this fungus are often used to display stuffed animals on.