A thin, overlapping bracket fungus on dead hardwoods whose whitish to tan cap contrasts with a gray to black pore surface of tiny pores. It causes a white rot. Its lignin-degrading enzymes have been studied for breaking down synthetic dyes and aromatic pollutants.
Inedible; a tough, leathery bracket that is not used as food.
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Habitat
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Saprobic on dead wood of hardwoods, rarely conifers, causing a white rot; also reported causing white rot in living trees. Annual, but found year-round.
Distribution
Widely distributed throughout North America (MushroomExpert); common and widespread in Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe, and recorded in many other parts of the world (First Nature).
Characteristics
Cap: bracket- to shelf-like, often fused with neighbors or reduced to a turned-over edge, up to about 10 cm wide and 6 cm deep; velvety to finely hairy becoming bald; whitish to grayish, tan or brownish, sometimes zoned, with a brown to black margin when mature. Pores: gray to black, sometimes bruising darker; tiny and angular, 6-7 per mm; tubes up to 2 mm deep. Stem: absent. Flesh: whitish to faintly brownish, tough, corky or leathery. Chemical reactions: KOH negative. Spore print: white. Spores: 4-6 x 2.5-3.5 µm, smooth, elliptical, inamyloid.
