This document provides information about common bracket fungi found in the Amherst, Massachusetts area, including their preferred hardwood or conifer hosts. It introduces 14 different fungal species, such as Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) which is ubiquitous on dead hardwood limbs. It also describes characteristics of bracket fungi in general, noting they are wood-decaying polypores or gilled mushrooms that can persist for many years on dead or living trees through all seasons.

1. Common 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.