I'm trying to identify this mushroom. It was growing near a dead oak tree.
Very firm and others were growing on the tree close by.
Thanks
Kelley Carstens

Not a mushroom, but a variety of bracket fungus.

Darn I was almost sure it was an american reishi.

Well it does look like some of the reishi photos online and I have been known to be wrong. Wait and see what others may have to say.

LOL, I always thought mushrooms were a fungus. It might be a variety of Inontous; a couple of inks with photos for comparison:

I. radiatus: http://www.rogersmushrooms.com...
I. dryadeus: http://www.rogersmushrooms.com...
I. hispidus: http://www.rogersmushrooms.com...

I never said that mushrooms weren't a fungus. I just suggested that the photo was a different kind of fungus, but I will retract that. I does look as if it may be a mushroom and since my mycological knowledge is lacking, I will leave to those more knowledgeable than me.

Do any of those have stems? The mystery mushroom seems to have a definite stem...

Jay, You are so much more knowledgeable than I am. It doesn't take much to confuse me and I don't know anything at all about mushrooms or fungus. I didn't know what Reishi was so I googled ... wow, they are really pretty!

It does have a thick stem growing on the tree and on the ground.
I'm still not for sure what it is, it seemed that they looked more reddish a few months ago.

I am not knowledgeable about fungus. They are far more confusing to me than plants, but I do enjoy photographing some of the interesting ones.

I'm not terribly knowledgeable about mushrooms/fungi either, but I agree that it's likely in the family Polyporaceae (woody polypores) which includes bracket fungi. I'd suggest maybe a Coltricia species (from my limited reference material), based on similar appearance and that these do have stems.

So, from a quick google, it appears reishi are in the same family... though that should not lead you to assume it's the same mushroom at all. Identifying mushrooms is complicated, with many look-alike species (and lots of people manage to poison themselves when they think they know enough and really don't).

Good call there, Lori. It's sure as heck not worth experimenting with mushrooms or fungi, as some/many of them contain neurotoxins. Very serious if you eat the wrong ones. Also, I have it from a good source that all mushrooms are fungi, but not all fungi are mushrooms.

I actually bought a whole book on mushrooms and fungi of Florida just a few years ago when I found white fungi growing underground in the leaf litter under my oak trees. I got all excited thinking they might be white truffles . . . not!! I wrote to the author of the book I had, and he invited me to send a sample to him. I also told him that the squirrels seemed to be eating the fungi, and he emphatically said NOT to assume that because a squirrel can eat it, a human can too.

Kelley, from a quick leaf through my book, I couldn't find anything that looked like your mystery fungi, sorry. What part of the country are you in?

Not too far from Houston in a little town called Magnolia.
Thank you for your help. I feel like the large dead oak tree is a good clue and I have a feeling the one above was growing from a dead root.
This has been bugging me for months I must find out what it is!
Here are some fresher ones I found today.

I seem to recall from my old mushroom hunting days, that what the mushroom was growing in, or, or around was almost as important as the appearance of the mushroom itself. Trying to identify a plucked mushroom is a daunting project. Do your mushrooms leave any spores if you set them on a piece of white paper? (I'm not really familiar with these shelf type mushrooms.)

Mushrooms do grow on specific substrates, e.g., different tree species, and that can be a clue to their IDs, and spore prints are a basic technique for ID. I'd suggest finding some local books or websites.

Welcome to ATP. Perhaps these links will be of use to you. I do think what you have is a polypore, and yes, where or on what they are growing is part of the ID process.


Texas Mycological Society
7445 Dillon Street
Houston, TX 77061

http://www.asergeev.com/pictur...

http://www.foragingtexas.com/2...

Here are a few more I found today, odviously different, anyone have a lead for me to investigate?

Hi, me again.

Did you find them growing on/near a tree? Were they in sun or shade? Near a water source/boggy area? Are they woody or soft? These are all part of the info necessary to know what genus/species you have.

These links have keys and galleries to use for determining genus/species

http://nemf1.homestead.com/fil...

http://www.rogersmushrooms.com...

http://www.inaturalist.org/pro...

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/...

And if you want a nice reference book, this is one of the best out there:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0898151694/