Bracket Fungi

1. Common Bracket Fungi in the Amherst AreaCommon Bracket Fungi in the Amherst Area
Cristie R. Kiley, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst
INTRODUCTION
Trametes hirsuta
Found on the deadwood of hardwoods and
very rarely reported on the wood of conifers
Lenzites betulina
Birch Lenzites
Fruits on hardwood stumps
and logs, especially birch
Trametes versicolor
Turkey Tail
Ubiquitous on dead limbs, stumps, and logs of hardwoods and
less frequently found on conifers
Polyporus varius
Blackfoot Polypore
Fruits on decaying hardwood
sticks and small logs
Trametes pubescens
Fruits on dead hardwood branches and rarely
reported on conifer wood
Cerrena unicolor
Mossy Maze Polypore
Fruits on the deadwood of hardwoods
Oxyporus populinus
Fruits on living hardwoods, especially maple
Pycnoporellus alboluteus
Saprobic on the deadwood of conifers,
especially spruce, fir, hemlock, and pine;
rarely on aspen
Ganoderma tsugae
Reishi
Fruits strictly on conifers, especially eastern
hemlock and fir
Daedaleopsis confragosa
Fruits on hardwood branches, especially oak
Postia fragilis
Fruits on dead birch
Fomes fomentarius
Tinder Polypore
Single to several fruit on living or dead hardwood trees, especially aspen, birch, and alder
Polypours squamosus
Dyrad’s Saddle
Fruits on decaying hardwood logs and stumps, as well as
living hardwoods, especially elm, silver maple, and box elder
The Polyporaceae belong to a
family of fungi known as the
Basidiomycetes. They are commonly
referred to as bracket fungi. Many are
perennials, and prolific, sometimes
over-wintering for many years. The
Artist Conk is very popular and can
grow up to 50 cm long!
They are generally tough,
woody, and inedible. They can be
either saprobic or parasitic and grow
mostly on trees (dead or alive), logs,
and stumps. The economic importance
of the bracket fungi lies in the effect
they have on timber, since some can
act detrimentally, though some are
mycorrhizal.
A great deal of the bracket
fungi cause white rot, as seen with
Lenzites betulina, Trametes hirsuta,
Trametes pubescens, and Fomes
fomentarius. And some cause brown
rot, as seen with Daedaleopsis
confragosa and Pycnoporellus
alboluteus.
Common morphological
characteristics of the bracket fungi are
that they are often semi-circular, often
sessile (lacking a stipe), and often
shelving and/or overlapping in growth.
They can be velvety/densely hairy,
smooth/finely hairy, or not hairy at all.
They can range from azonate (such as
with Trametes hirsuta) to zonate
(concentric bands), and some with
variability in color (such as with
Trametes versicolor). Sometimes the
sporophore can be resupinate, in which
the entire structure lies flat on the
substratum with the lamellae facing
up, as seen with Pycnoporellus
alboluteus. Most have many pores,
hence "polypore", but some do have
gills. Even during a growing season
with drought, the bracket fungi are
widely present.