Polyporus squamosus, or Dryad's Saddle, or Pheasant's Back bracket fungus. At 33cm across, it is already too old to eat. Growing on ash tree stump.
Polyporus squamosus, or Dryad's Saddle, or Pheasant's Back, bracket fungus. Edible when very young. This specimen is already too large and old to eat; only a few days old but already at its maximum size - 33cm across. Still white underneath and had no signs of the flies that invaded a few days later. The only visible damage is some surface scarring caused by slugs. Growing on an ash stump (felled 4-5 years ago) that is still producing regrowth water shoots. In the shade on the north side of a hawthorn hedge. This is the first and only fungus noted on this stump. (photographer's woodland). Common names derived from folklore suggest it looks like a wood nymph's saddle, or the plumage on some game birds. Typically the species has cream to ochre brackets up to 70cm diameter with concentric brown fibrous scales on top, broad (1-3mm) pores below, with a partial partial stem, often in groups or colonies. Appears April – August, and grows as a parasite on dead and dying deciduous trees, especially elm, beech and sycamore - this specimen is growing on Ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
Size: 6048px × 4032px
Location: Caernarfon, Gwynedd, Wales, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Jean Williamson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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