Smoky bracket fungus

Thanks Jim. Before I joined project noah I had never really appreciated the beauty & variety of fungi so I am very much a novice in this area! I will bear your advice in mind next time.

Thanks for your comment Mick!

Great photo!

This is a polypore or bracket fungus. When finding these, it is important to identify a couple of other things to help with identification: the underside- pores (shape, size and how many per millimetre) or gills or ridges and the colour. Since some polypores are perennials, the undersurface colour will not always be accurate. Another thing is to take a sample and do a section to determine the thickness of the cap flesh and the thickness of the pore-=bearing layer. Based on the brown colour and white trim and the fact it looks like it is growing on a hardwood (an aspen), it could be Bjerkandera adusta, the Smokey Bracket. Without the tellatle colur on the underside I can be sure. If it is B. adusta the pore surface should be gray, or dark gray and the pore layer should be thin.