Split gill

Description:

The cap is white and hairy, sometimes tinged purple. The individual caps of Schizophyllum commune are typically 1 to 3 cm across and 0.3 to 1 cm thick, frequently fused into the edges of adjacent caps. Gills are pinkish grey, radiating from the attachment point, the gills of Schizophyllum commune are split lengthways and they curl back to protect the fertile surfaces during dry weather. The rudimentary stems of the split gill fungus are very short and often not visible above the substrate surface. When underneath dead wood the fruitbodies are attached centrally via the infertile surface and without any stem.

Habitat:

More often than not many tiers of split gill fruitbodies will cover damaged areas of bark on a sickly tree’s trunk or on dead or dying branches. Primarily a saprobic wood-rotting fungus, Schizophyllum commune causes white rot. In recent years this remarkable saprobic fungus has taken a liking to silage, it is frequently seen with tiers of fruitbodies emerging from cracks in plastic-wrapped round bales that are left piled beside field hedges or in barns.

Notes:

Spotted in Kroondomein Het Loo in rural area of Apeldoorn, Holland.(sources:see reference)