False Turkey Tails

Description:

I didn't recognise these brackets at first. There were two distinct areas of growth roughly three meters apart; one on a dead tree truck (photos 1 - 3), the other on a living tree (photos 4 - 6). Amongst the ferns and leaf litter, most looked twisted and chaotic, whereas those on the tree were orderly, flatter, and much more bracket-like in appearance. Perhaps these are two separate species? No visible pores, so definitely a crust fungus species. Stereum ostrea, also called "false turkey-tail" and "golden curtain crust", is a basidiomycete fungus in the family Stereaceae. It is a plant pathogen and a wood decay fungus. With concentric circles of many colors, it highly resembles Trametes versicolor, "turkey-tail", and is thus called the "false turkey-tail". (Wiki) A good local reference - http://australianfungi.blogspot.com/2007...

Habitat:

Spotted between drier eucalypt forest and lush subtropical rainforest along the western ridge in Bunya Mountains National Park, southeast Queensland. The foliage here was becoming denser, hence more shade and moisture. Here's some info on the park - http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/bunya-...

Notes:

I initially thought these were turkey tails. Thanks to CorduneanuVlad for the correct ID of this spotting, and for providing the link to Mushroom Expert which explains the difference between turkey tail and false turkey tail species. Turkey tail - http://www.mushroomexpert.com/trametes_v... and False turkey tail - http://www.mushroomexpert.com/stereum_os...