Species details
Black-foot polypore
Picipes badius
Inedible
Photo: Dan Molter · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A thin glossy chestnut-brown polypore with a characteristic dark-brown to black lower stem.
Identification features
Cap up to about 20 cm wide, fan- to funnel-shaped, smooth and glossy chestnut to reddish-brown. Underside is whitish and porous; the short stem becomes dark brown to black.
Identification checklist
Check the glossy chestnut-brown cap, small pale pores and strongly darkened stem base.
How to separate similar species
Cerioporus leptocephalus is usually paler and less glossy; cap colour and shape differ despite the dark stem base.
Habitat
Grows from spring to autumn on dead and occasionally living parts of hardwood trees.
Fruiting period
April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Similar species
- Blackfoot polypore (Cerioporus leptocephalus)
- Polyporus species
- Picipes species