Hen of the Woods

Description:

Fruiting Body: 15-60 cm broad or more; composed of multiple caps sharing a branched, stemlike structure. Caps: 2-10 cm across; more or less fan-shaped; gray-brown (often with vague concentric zones); finely velvety or bald; with wavy margins. Pore Surface: Running down the stem, often nearly to the ground; lavender gray when young, becoming dirty whitish to yellowish; with 2-4 angular pores per mm; tubes to 5 mm deep. Stem: Branched; whitish; tough; often off-center. Flesh: Firm; white.

Habitat:

Weakly parasitic on living hardwoods (especially oaks) and occasionally on conifers; also saprobic on decaying wood; causing a white butt rot; fruiting in large clusters of rosettes near the bases of trees; often reappearing in the same place in subsequent years; summer and fall; widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains, rare in the west.

Notes:

Yum! I do a special dance when I find these.