A small, thin, crust-like bracket that grows in dense, fused rows from bark cracks on dead hardwoods, especially oak. The hairy upper surface is zoned tan, orange-brown or cinnamon, and the underside is smooth and orange without pores. It is a common turkey tail look-alike that lacks pores.
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Habitat
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Saprobic on dead hardwoods, especially oaks, densely gregarious and fused, often emerging from gaps in the bark; causes a white rot of the heartwood. Often hosts algae and is sometimes parasitized by jelly fungi. Found in every season.
Distribution
Widely distributed in North America but apparently absent from the Rocky Mountains.
Characteristics
Fruiting body: individual caps up to about 2 cm across but usually fused laterally; fan-shaped, semicircular or irregular, often resupinate or effused-reflexed; no stem. Upper surface: densely velvety to hairy, concentrically zoned tan to orange-brown, pinkish or cinnamon. Underside: smooth, orange, no pores. Flesh: thin and tough; hard and brittle when dry. Chemical reactions: KOH red (or red then black) on the upper surface. Spore print: white, hard to obtain. Spores: 5-7.5 x 2-3 µm, cylindric, smooth, amyloid.
