Species details
Oak mazegill
Daedalea quercina
Inedible
Photo: Enrico Tomschke · CC BY 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A thick bracket fungus on oak with a characteristic maze-like pore surface underneath.
Identification features
The fruitbody is 10–30 cm wide, thick and hard, ochre to brown zoned. The underside has elongated, curved, interconnected openings forming a maze.
Identification checklist
Key features are the oak substrate and the strongly maze-like underside with thick woody walls.
How to separate similar species
Other bracket fungi may have elongated pores, but the combination of oak and a pronounced maze pattern is highly characteristic.
Habitat
Grows mainly on dead oak wood, less often on damaged living trunks, and causes brown rot.
Fruiting period
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Similar species
- Lumpy bracket (Trametes gibbosa)
- Gloeophyllum trabeum
- Lenzites betulina