Wood-decay fungus fungi of certain types remove cellulose compounds from wood and hence the wood becomes brown colour. Brown rot in a dry, crumbly condition is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "dry rot" in general. The term "brown rot" replaced the general use of the term "dry rot", as wood must be damp to decay, although it may become dry later. Dry rot is a generic name for certain species of brown-rot fungi. Brown-rot fungi of particular economic importance include "Serpula lacrymans" (true dry rot), "Fibroporia vaillantii" (mine fungus), and "Coniophora puteana" (cellar fungus), which may attack timber in buildings. Other brown-rot
Serpula (fungus) nomenclatural database Index Fungorum indicates 11 species: Serpula (fungus) Serpula is a genus of fungi in the family Serpulaceae. The term was originally defined by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon as a section of the genus "Merulius" in 1801. British botanist Samuel Frederick Gray raised it to genus status in his 1821 work "The Natural Arrangement of British Plants". The name is derived from the Latin verb "serpěre" "to creep". Synonyms include Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link's 1809 "Xylophagous", Christian Hendrik Persoon's 1825 "Xylomyzon", Narcisse Théophile Patouillard's 1874 "Gyrophora", and Patouillard's 1897 "Gyrophana". "Serpula" forms a clade with at least two other closely