Buglossoporus quercinus

(Schrad.) Kotl. & Pouza.

An over-mature bracket on a long-dead ancient oak near Windsor Great Park, Buckinghamshire.
Developing bracket on a dead standing English oak in Bear’s Rails, Surrey
A bracket with a forming pore layer on a dead stub of English oak in Richmond Park, London
An aborting bracket on a dead standing oak in Richmond Park, London
Large bracket on dead standing oak bruised black (to left) in Bear’s Rails, Surrey

An over-mature bracket on a long-dead ancient oak near Windsor Great Park, Buckinghamshire.
Developing bracket on a dead standing English oak in Bear’s Rails, Surrey
A bracket with a forming pore layer on a dead stub of English oak in Richmond Park, London
An aborting bracket on a dead standing oak in Richmond Park, London
Large bracket on dead standing oak bruised black (to left) in Bear’s Rails, Surrey
An anamorphic fruit body on dead oak in Richmond Park, UK.
A moderate-sized fruit body on dead oak in Bears Rails Windsor, UK.
A small-sized fruit body on dead oak in Bears Rails Windsor, UK.
An anamorphic fruit body on dead oak in Richmond Park, UK.
A teleomorphic fruit body on dead ancient oak in Windsor, UK.

Common name

Oak polypore.

Often found on

English oak (mature / veteran / ancient).

Sometimes found on

Not confirmed from other species (incorrect historic record on beech).

Location

Found on the main scaffold structure of the host tree (trunk and principal limbs) – persists on dead tree parts.

Description

Annual . Soft and fleshy. Emerges as a white-yellow mass. Usually parasitized and aborted. Where brackets develop, the upper surface becomes a yellow-brown that may crack like a soufflé. Bruises brown. Pore layer off-white and becoming brown. Sometimes exudes yellow-brown liquid. Senescent brackets often disintegrate though may petrify a brownish-black.

Confused with

Fistulina hepatica (far more common – orange-brown); Laetiporus sulphureus (far more common – develops fronds).

Significance

Very infrequently observed. Limited generally to sites with many old oaks. Attributed to a cubical brown rot of the heartwood . Ecologically considered important. Protected under The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Where suspected, Kew Gardens’ mycological department should be contacted. Confirmed findings should see the host tree protected.