Artist Conk

Description:

Distinguishing features for Ganoderma applanatum include its unvarnished, furrowed and lumpy, brown-crusted cap surface; its white pore surface, which bruises brown; and its brownish or cinnamon flesh. It is perennial, and the specimens can develop for dozens of years.

Habitat:

Redwood Forest, Crescent City, California USA

Notes:

Not edible. Artists use these mushrooms for etched designs when fresh and for landscape and other painting when dried. They can be displayed differently than most paintings because the mushroom will stand on it's edge on a table or shelf. They become almost as hard as a block of wood and will last for many years.