Trametes versicolor

(L.) Lloyd

Over-mature fruiting bodies on a burr of a fallen beech in the New Forest, Hampshire.
Light-coloured brackets on a fallen beech limb in the New Forest, Hampshire.
Fruiting bodies on bark-less English oak in Hockley Woods, Essex.
Very brown brackets on a fallen birch in Hockley Woods, Essex.
Dark purple-black brackets on fallen beech in the New Forest, Hampshire.

Over-mature fruiting bodies on a burr of a fallen beech in the New Forest, Hampshire.
Light-coloured brackets on a fallen beech limb in the New Forest, Hampshire.
Fruiting bodies on bark-less English oak in Hockley Woods, Essex.
Very brown brackets on a fallen birch in Hockley Woods, Essex.
Dark purple-black brackets on fallen beech in the New Forest, Hampshire.

Common name

Turkey tail.

Often found on

Deciduous broadleaved species.

Sometimes found on

conifers.

Location

Found across the entire standing structure of the tree, and on fallen trees / tree parts and stumps.

Description

Annual. Tough. Somewhat thick, individually. Usually abundant. Often overlap and may form rosette structures. Begins as an off-white mass that develops into the pore layer beneath that does not bruise. Upper surface high varied and zoned / banded with a mix of green, brown (most frequent), grey, red, blue, or other colour. White spore.

Confused with

Bjerkandera adusta (grey pore surface).

Significance

Attributed to a selective white rot of the wood. Considered saprotrophic (a competitive saprotroph able of colonising vast areas) though may act as a facultative parasite, under certain conditions. Indicative of dysfunction. Presence on branches tends to indicate deadwood / branch decline, where not isolated to pruning stubs. Presence on stems indicative of vascular dysfunction. May signal physiological decline.