Stereum subtomentosum - Yellowing Curtain Crust

Taxonomy

Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agaricomycetes

Order: Russulales

Easily confused with Trametes versicolor, the Turkeytail bracket fungus (which differs from Stereum species, however, by having tiny shallow pores on its fertile undersurface), this rather uncommon bracket grows on dead hardwood, and most commonly on Beech.

Like many other crust fungi, Stereum subtomentosum can be found throughout the year; however, its period of sporulation (releasing spores) is limited to the summer and autumn.

If you scratch the upper surface it will turn yellow - hence the common name Yellowing Curtain Crust.

Identification Guide

Description	Individual brackets are 3 to 7cm across and have irregularly wavy edges. The colours, which are zoned, are various shades of greyish-orange or greyish white. There is no stem, but the attachment region is usually quite narrow.
Spore-bearing surface	The lower spore-bearing surface is smooth, without pores, and rather paler than the upper surface; it is less distinctly zoned. The flesh is 1 to 2mm thick.
Spores	White or very pale brown.
Odour/taste	No noticeable odour; tough, tasteless and inedible .
Habitat	On dead hardwood trees and fallen branches, usually beech.
Season	This bracket fungus can be seen a ll through the year; it sheds spores in late summer and autumn.
Occurrence	Fairly common.
Similar species	Trametes versicolor, with generally darker and bolder zones, is much more common.