Laetiporaceae

The Laetiporaceae are a family of bracket fungi in the order Polyporales. The 2017 family-level classification of the order, built on DNA from 292 species, recognised it as one of eighteen families ^{1Reference 1Justo A et al. · 2017A revised family-level classification of the Polyporales (Basidiomycota) — taxonomyView study →}.

Its type genus is Laetiporus, the chickens of the woods. These are brown-rot fungi: they cause a reddish-brown, cubical rot in the heartwood of living and dead trees ^{2Reference 2Kuo M · 2017Laetiporus sulphureus — species descriptionView study →}.

Chicken of the woods, Laetiporus sulphureus, is the family’s best-known member. It is first a wild edible, and its folk use in Europe includes fever, cough and rheumatism ^{4Reference 4Sułkowska-Ziaja K et al. · 2018ReviewLaetiporus sulphureus – chemical composition and medicinal value — reviewView study →}. Research on it is almost entirely laboratory work.

North America has several look-alike species in the same genus. They grow on conifers, on eucalyptus, or at the base of oaks, and they are told apart by host, pore colour and range ^{3Reference 3Kuo M · 2017The genus Laetiporus — key to North American speciesView study →}.