Oxyporus populinus

(Schumach.) Donk

An individual large bracket on the cut end of a felled aspen in Barnet, London.
Between buttress roots on sycamore in Bedfordshire, UK
The mossy upper surface with a white margin and underside on sycamore in Bedfordshire, UK
The matured pore layer on a large bracket on aspen in Barnet, London
A cross-section showing the deep tube layers with distinct separations on aspen in Barnet, London

An individual large bracket on the cut end of a felled aspen in Barnet, London.
Between buttress roots on sycamore in Bedfordshire, UK
The mossy upper surface with a white margin and underside on sycamore in Bedfordshire, UK
The matured pore layer on a large bracket on aspen in Barnet, London
A cross-section showing the deep tube layers with distinct separations on aspen in Barnet, London

Common name

Mossy maple bracket; poplar bracket

Often found on

Maple and poplar.

Sometimes found on

Other deciduous broadleaves.

Location

Found on the trunk of the host tree and potentially along scaffold limbs. Also found on stumps and fallen stems.

Description

Perennial. Tough and woody. Upper surface a white-grey and becoming mossy with age. Tube layer initially off-white and becoming peachy orange. Cross-section reveals distinctly separated deep tube layers (photo e). Often abundant and in tiers / decks. Individual brackets can become very large.

Confused with

Perenniporia fraxinea (has beige flesh and brown tube layer – same host range); Rigidoporus ulmarius (has white flesh and a small cinnamon-coloured tube layer – same host range); Trametes gibbosa (usually found on dead stems / limbs / stumps and fallen trees)

Significance

Understood to be parasitic though there is a general lack of research on its impact upon the host tree. Attributed to a selective white rot of wood. Often fruits at / around wounding or dysfunctional sites on the host tree.