Bracket fungi are tough, woody fungi that grow on both living and dead trees. They have distinctive shelf-shaped fruiting bodies.
Name: Beefsteak Fungus Fistulina hepatica
Description: Beefsteak Fungus gained its name because it looks similar to raw meat and bleeds when cut.
Habitat: Usually low down on the trunks of oak trees and sweet chestnut from July until October.
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Name: Hoof Fungus Fomes fomentarius
Description: Hoof Fungus produces large polypore brackets shaped like a horse's hoof. They are usually brown, but can also be grey or blackish.
Habitat: Found on the various tree species it infects where the bark is broken causing rot. After the tree is dead it changes from being a parasite to becoming a decomposer.
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Name: Lumpy Bracket Trametes gibbosa
Description: The top is often discoloured by green algae. Unlike other Trametes fungi that have rounded pores the pores of this species are slits.
Habitat: Grows on beech stumps and other hardwoods where it causes white rot.
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Name: Toothed Bracket Inonotus nodulosus
Description: An interesting fungus that forms masses of conjoined fruiting bodies.
Habitat: Associated with beech trees.
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Name: Willow Bracket Phellinus igniarius
Description: Grows in concentrically ridged layers with a fresh layer forming each year. The new layers are light-brown and feel like velvet. Older layers turn grey, then blacken and often develop cracks.
Habitat: Very tough fungus associated with willow trees, seen all year round on lower trunks of older trees.
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