About this fungus
Mossy Maze Polypore is a fungus in the Cerrenaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A grey-brown, zoned bracket with a hairy upper surface, often partly green with algae.
What to check
Turn it over. The fertile surface begins as irregular pale pores, then splits into a maze and finally tooth-like plates. Confirm dead hardwood beneath it.
Variation
Fresh edges can be whitish. Older brackets darken, carry algae and develop a more strongly toothed underside.
Lookalikes
Turkey-tail and related Trametes have rounder pores and usually keep a smoother pore surface rather than becoming distinctly maze-like and toothed.
Habitat and range
A white-rot decomposer on dead broad-leaved wood, rarely reported on conifers. Annual brackets may persist and can be found beyond their main fruiting period.
Food safety
Inedible.
Photographs
Photo: Leanne Stacy Reitan · CC0 1.0