Daedaleopsis confragosa - Blushing Bracket

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Polyporales

Commonly referred to as the Blushing Bracket, because there are often shades of pink or mauve in the upper surface, Daedaleopsis confragosa is a tough, slow-growing fungus.

Often these distinctive brackets can be seen on riverside willows in midwinter, when very few other fungi are in evidence. The bright brackets catch any sunlight and stand out starkly from the dark background of the branches or trunks to which they are attached.

Tiers of Blushing Brackets on a dying willow Commonly referred to as the Blushing Bracket, this tough, inedible polypore is most commonly seen in tiers (as in the example illustrated here) on dead or dying willow trunks and branches. It is less frequently seen growing on alder, and just occasionally on hazel, birch and poplar.

In the past often referred to as the Thin-maze Polypore (even though few of its slot-like pores tend to merge to form mazes comparable with those of the Oak Polypore, Daedalea quercina) this easily-identified bracket fungus is particularly common beside rivers and streams.

The generic name Daedaleopsis means 'having the appearance of Daedalea' (which is the genus in which you will find the Oak Polypore, Daedalea quercina; and the specific epithet confragosa means rough orrugged and refers not to the gills but to the wrinkled and bumpy upper (infertile) surface.

Identification Guide

	Cap Usually kidney shaped, these slow-growing brackets are 5 to 20cm across and 1 to 4cm thick at maturity, but occasionally they form attractive horizontal rosettes, as seen here (left) on a fallen silver birch trunk. Blackened old fruitbodies can sometimes persist for several years. The reddish brown warts can, in some instances, completely cover the upper surface, although more often they are restricted to a central area leaving an attractive concentrically zoned outer region that is free of warts.
	Tubes and pores White at first, becoming beige and ageing to grey, the underside bruises pinkish-brown when handled (as shown on the left). Most of the pores are closed slits, but some form maze-like patterns.
Spore print	White.
Odour/taste	Odour not distinctive; taste slightly bitter,
Habitat	On dead or dying broad-leaf timber, notably willow but occasionally birch and other hardwoods.
Season	Throughout the year. Spores are released in late summer and autumn.
Occurrence	Frequent.
Similar species	Mazegill brackets such as Daedalea quercina are similar in general shape and colour but, unlike Daedaleopsis confragosa, their elongated pores are all in the form of a maze. Seen from above the Birch Mazegill, Lenzites betulinus, looks quite similar to the Blushing Bracket, but despite being a polypore it has true gills.