September fungi—a few uncommon polypores--Spongipellis unicolor, Berkeley's polypore, Antrodia heteromorpha?

I found a few things that were visually appealing, but mystifying when it came to ID.

This small pale blob (about an inch across) was intriguing, with its lumpy network of holes, but I could not find anything remotely like it in any of my books or online. I wasn’t even sure it was a fungus! Could have been an egg-case, maybe. The problem, as it turned out, was this was a very young growth stage of this fungus—but thanks to the magic of the internet, I posted the image on you-know-where, tagged it with the names of the authors of some of the best mushroom books, and somebody ID’d it definitively in minutes (Gary Lincoff himself!). Then I plugged in the name, and got somewhere!

                                             

                                       Antrodia heteromorpha?

*Edit: over the years I've found unmistakable Abortiporus biennis which was the ID suggested to me, but I always had a nagging feeling that it didn't fit this one. Since then I found some other options, so far Antrodia heteromorpha seems like the best fit. In any case, many thanks, Gary Lincoff! Your years of experience are (sadly, now "were") a true treasure. He probably had so many ID requests thrown at him that he got confused. 

Next on the menu is another peculiar polypore which also stumped me.


                         Spongipellis unicolor

I confess that when I see most bracket-like tree fungi I often roll my eyes and keep walking, mainly because I have a lot of trouble with them—to me, they tend to blur together, and I can’t keep track of which is which. Never seen these before, though, and they were quite distinctive. Had to pull out the big guns and pester the pros again.



Looks like some kind of bread or cake! Or, as Michael Kuo so eloquently puts it, “…kind of a big, doinky doofus…” among polypores. That must be why it got my attention! He also says “…it is not often mentioned in field guides (perhaps because it's too much of a doofus?).” The above specimen is about 5” from top to bottom. They grow on oaks, mostly. They’re parasitic.

Below is a nice swirling Berkeley’s polypore, Bondarzewia berkeleyi. It was a good 16” across. And there were three of them. These are not uncommon (and they come up in the same spot for years), and I didn’t have to send telegrams to experts for this one (partly due to an ID mishap when I found one before. Now I know!).


                                             Bondarzewia berkeleyi

Just a pretty fungus swirl on the forest floor.

Very young Berkeley's Polypore which in my excitement I misidentified as a Laetiporus cincinnatus

Although I've got a backlog of images of other stuff I've found in the woods recently, I found this on a hike today, and it rose to the top.

Bondarzewia berkeleyi

Growing happily amongst the poison ivy...

Chicken of the Woods! The pink kind, with white pore surface.

Four days later!

Sept. 5 update: No, no, no, it's a Berkeley's Polypore, a rookie mistake! Something about that pore surface was whispering to me, saying, "No, wait, Chicken of the Woods is SMOOTH underneath, it's not just that this one is so young..." so I started looking at ID things and lots of other pics, and although the surface could maybe pass as a Laetiporus cincinnatus, the overall shape and growth pattern just wasn't quite right, and eventually the pore surface pretty much clinched it for me. Not to mention the color, which I chalked up to it being slightly waterlogged from rain. Oh, well, it's a fine example of trying to cram the facts into what you want to see. I wanted it to be a fine fat chicken of the woods, so I overrode that little nagging feeling...

(Original Aug. 30 post) I found it 3 days ago. Now I have to keep going back to check it, because mushrooms can grow really fast, and I don't want to miss it when it's at its succulent best. Except now I'm going to lie awake at night worrying, and hoping no one else finds it. There is some small comfort in the fact that, while it was close to the path, it was on the cedar-y side, so maybe everybody else just skips that part thinking it's not worth looking there. These are growing up against a very big, very rotten oak. There was only about 15' of tree still upright. The rest was on the ground. But, perhaps I have already said too much.

Berkeley's Polypore engulfing a blade of grass

They are known for just growing around whatever's touching them. I sense no malice there, though.

Pore surface of young Bondarzewia berkeleyi

The shapes sure are incredible, this I know for sure.