Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd
Phylum: Basidiomycota, Order: Polyporales, Family: Polyporaceae
Macroscopic characters | shape | Sessile; effused-reflexed; dimidiate; often in dense imbricate and fused clusters |
size | Up to 10-12 cm broad x 6 cim long x up to 5 mm thick | |
texture | Tough-fibrous | |
pileus | Variable in color; strongly zonate with contrasting colors; hirsute to tomentose | |
stipe | None | |
context | Cream-colored; tough-fibrous; up to 5 mm thick | |
pore surface | Cream-colored to cinereous | |
pores | Angular to circular; 4-5 per mm | |
tube layer(s) | Concolorous; continuous with context; up to 3 mm thick | |
Microscopic characters | hyphal system | Trimitic; skeletal hyphae thick-walled, aseptate, 4-6 um in diameter; binding hyphae thick-walled, aseptate, profusely branched, 2-4 um in diameter |
clamp connections | Contextual generative hyphae thin-walled with clamps | |
sterile elements | None | |
basidiospores | Cylindric ; slightly curved; hyaline; smooth; 5-6 x 1.5-2 µm | |
Habitat characters | substrate/host | Dead wood of numerous genera of hardwoods; occasionally on conifers |
seasonality | Annual | |
type of decay | White rot of hardwood, rarely conifers | |
range | Throughout forest regions of North America; circumglobal species | |
Notes | Common and widespread in North Carolina and Us referred to as the ‘turkey tail” fungus | |
References | Gilbertson & Ryvarden, 1887; Grand & Vernia, 2009; Overholts, 1953 |