DISCUSSION OF ROY CAIN'S FIELD KEY TO POLYPORES

Roy Cain (1906-1998) was a major figure in twentieth century mycology. He spent his entire career at the University of Toronto where he carried out research on a great diversity of fungi and mosses. He is best known for his work on coprophilous (dung-inhabiting) fungi but he was equally knowledgible in other groups. He taught mycology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, inspiring his students with his profound knowledge of fungi, both in the field and in the lab. He constructed many keys for the identification of fungi, including a particularly popular one for polypores. Although this key did not help to identify everything a student might find, it worked remarkably well for most collections.

The key presented here is still basically Roy Cain's, but it has been reworked somewhat and expanded to include a few additional species common in Atlantic Canada. This web version also contains some links to photographs and discussions of some of the polypores. It is still far from complete but is presented here in gratitude to Dr. Cain for all he taught those of us lucky enough to have been his students.

David Malloch
New Brunswick Museum