BASIDIOMYCETES: Aphyllophorales, Polyporaceae

Turkey Tail, Trametes versicolor, Coriolus versicolor, or Polyporus versicolor

Basidiomycetes, order: Aphyllophorales, family: Polyporaceae

Width to 4"

The Turkey Tail forms stalkless, semicircular lobes in clusters, making overlapping brackets or shelves on dead wood in mixed woodlands, particularly hardwoods. Flesh is tough and leathery with scalloped margins. Color is quite variable but always arranged in concentric rings or zones of black, brown, gray, and ochre. The fertile underside of tubes and pores, as well as the spore print, is white or pale yellow. The mushroom is found throughout North America during the spring and fall but may persist over the course of several seasons. It is edible but very tough. Also known as the Many-colored Polypore.