Species details
Birch mazegill
Lenzites betulinus
Inedible
Photo: Σ64 · CC BY 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A corky bracket with a hairy pale-zoned upper surface and a gill-like labyrinthine fertile surface, often on birch.
Identification features
Cap 2–10 cm wide, flattened, whitish-grey and hairy, often distinctly zoned. The underside has long gill-like pores that branch and interconnect.
Identification checklist
The underside is key: instead of round pores it has long gill-like, often labyrinthine connected structures.
Detailed features
- Cap
- Cap 2–10 cm wide, flattened, whitish-grey and hairy, often distinctly zoned.
- Hymenophore
- The underside has long gill-like pores that branch and interconnect.
Size
- Cap diameter
- 2–10 cm
Habitat
Grows in groups on stumps and dead wood of birch and other hardwoods throughout the year.
Fruiting period
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Ecology
- Host trees
- Birch (Betula)
- Substrate
- Dead wood, Stumps
- Notes
- Grows in groups on stumps and dead wood of birch and other hardwoods throughout the year.
How to separate similar species
Trametes species have true tubes or pores rather than a distinctly gill-like fertile surface.