Species details
Silverleaf fungus
Chondrostereum purpureum
Inedible
Photo: David Whyte · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A thin bracket- or crust-like wood fungus with violet to purple fertile surface that greys and browns with age.
Identification features
Fruitbodies are thin, often only a few centimetres wide, rubbery and wavy. Young fertile surface is vivid violet; the upper surface becomes greyish and hairy with age.
Identification checklist
Key clues are the smooth purple-violet fertile surface of young fruitbodies and the thin rubbery texture.
How to separate similar species
Stereum hirsutum has a yellow to orange-brown underside and lacks the characteristic violet fertile surface.
Habitat
Grows on dead or damaged parts of many hardwoods, including fruit trees, mainly in summer and autumn.
Fruiting period
June, July, August, September, October
Similar species
- Hairy curtain crust (Stereum hirsutum)
- Yellowing curtain crust (Stereum subtomentosum)
- Chondrostereum species