Pretty tree fungus needs ID! Lots of data and piccies provided :)

[MRob]

Hi Fungi Forum people!!

I have been scratching my head about these tree bracket fungi but had little luck identifying them. I have pored through my parents Encyclodaedia of Fungi, and trawled many web pages without coming to any real conclusion. Which is odd, because they are so distinct I thought it would be easy at first. Ho hum. So I would love to hear from more experienced hands who may be able to shed light on the issue .

I pulled them off some small, presumably dead branches clustered by the side of a river in North Yorkshire. They must have washed down in a flood a while back and stayed there - a small clump of significant size branches. So alas I cannot tell you what type of wood for sure, except to say definitely hardwood and, knowing the area, possibly/probably alder. The brackets were spread mostly individually over the wood, although in one place there were two growing together. There were not many, well spaced.

Now, from the top they obviously look like trametes versicolous - but the pores are all wrong. And its the pores that are giving me such difficulty - I cant find anything that truly matches..

Other ID stuff, they are woody and pretty hard. I pulled them out in the middle of winter, so perennial. No noted fuzzyness of hairiness. Slight ridges on top moving with the bands of colour, and radiating from center, but not strong. Just realised I have no side pics, too late now as I took with a friends fancy camera - oh well, the biggest bracket is max 20mm at its thickest point, the smaller 10mm at its thickest. Pore sizes are indicated by the piccies, sticking a pin in them reveals a max depth around 10mm, more typically 5-8mm. I did manage to get a bit of a pore print, but unsure of colour - certainly light, maybe yellowish but I cant really make up my mind.

First is the largest one, at 100mm across. The first photo of the underside is more representative of the true colour when they were picked - the pores have lightened a bit with drying, and the camera effect have in places lightened them further still. When picked the undersides were a darkish brown. The second underside photo has better detail of the pores. You can see the pores have a crazed pattern, radiating out from the center. The width of the pores as they radiate out is around 0.5-1mm. The lengths of the individual channels are longer. Click pics for bigger views.

First fungi top


First fungi reverse best colour:


First fungi reverse detail:


Second fungi, 96mm at its widest. Top:


Back:


Third fungi, 88mm across, top:


Back:


Any ideas?!

[RobSutton]

Have you looked at Daedaleopsis confragosa?

[diggleken]

Rob's spot on, they are all Blushing Bracket.
It can be a bit varied, but the golden pores and reddening with age are clear - and it persists.
Except on my work station that is - the example I had here eventually became riddled with beetles!
Kids love them (especially girls) as they do what they say and the pores blush pink when rubbed, on fresh specimens.
Oh, and welcome to WAB!
Cheers
Ken

[Ditiola]

Mrob

Welcome to WAB. A nice collection of good clear photo's, if only more people submitted good clear shots from all angles like yours, it would make it so much easier for the more experienced members to come up with an accurate ID. Also you have obviously looked at the fungus carefully and made a good effort to try to find a name yourself, this is all excellent

Peter

[MRob]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses. I did look at daedaleopsis confragosa, alas flicking through the pore pictures online I saw a number that looked almost gill like, so discarded that option. Should have looked deeper into it I guess! As you say Ken, seems they can be very varied. And there are one or two left that I have not picked, I'll try rubbing the pores next time I am in the area and watch what happens .

Cheers!

[mollisia]

Hello,

especially what concerns the form of the pores/gills, Daedaleopsis confragosa is extremely variable. There is a form/variety called va. tricolor, which has distinct gills. And there are all intermediates between nearly round small pores to gills. Also the colour and the texture is very depend on the age of the fruitbodies. When they are young, they are greyish-white and very soft, like some Oligoporus species. When they get older, they become more and more reddish-vinaceous and harder. In that state are yours, and in the hard stage it is almost impossible to see the reddening of the pores. Sometimes you can see it nevertheless when you moisten the pore surface a little bit.

B.t.w., the gilled "var. tricolor" is often already dark reddish when young and it ocures very often on Prunus spp.. I was a long time the opinion, that it is at least a good variety, if not a species. But two years ago we found a collection, where immediately under the older fruitbodies young fruitbodies have emerged, so close that they where connected. The older fruitbodies had pores, the younger ones gills .....

best regards,
Andreas