The Turkeytail (Trametes versicolor) is one of the commonest bracket fungi in Britain, and one of the most colourful. Its thin, tough, leathery brackets are finely velvety and grow in overlapping tiers and rosettes, each banded with rings of brown, grey, blue, green, orange or cream around a pale edge, like the fanned tail of a wild turkey.
Turn one over and the underside is white to cream with tiny round pores. It grows on dead stumps, logs and fallen branches of broadleaf trees, more rarely conifers, and can be found all year round. It is widespread and very common everywhere.
Curtain crusts such as the Hairy Curtain Crust (Stereum hirsutum) look similar from above but are smooth underneath, with no pores. The Turkeytail is not poisonous, but it is far too tough to eat.
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Distribution
Widespread and very common everywhere
Habitat
On dead wood of broadleaf trees, more rarely conifers
Etymology
Trametes refers to the thin fruit bodies of the genus. versicolor is Latin for 'of several colours'.
Fruiting Body
The fruit body is sessile at first, then becomes a thin, leathery semicircular or irregular bracket, usually in large overlapping clusters. The colour is hugely variable, from almost black, blue and violet to yellowish-brown and orange, often in concentric zones. The surface is minutely hairy.
| Cycle | Annual |
|---|---|
| Shape | Overlapping brackets |
Pores
The pores are white to cream, small and round, 4-5 per mm. The pore surface shows no noticeable bruising and is a clean, pale contrast to the zoned upper surface.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Round |
Tubes
The tubes are very shallow, up to 3mm thick, forming only a thin layer beneath the pore surface, so the bracket stays thin overall.
Flesh
The flesh is cream, thin, tough and fibrous but elastic, with a leathery feel. It has a pleasant, fungoid smell and a mild taste.
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Odour | Pleasant, fungoid |
| Taste | Mild |
Spores
| Colour | |
|---|---|
| Shape | Cylindric, Allantoid |
| Ornamentation | Smooth |
| Size | 5-7 x 1.5-2 μm |
Classification
- ↳ Phylum: Basidiomycota
- ↳ Subphylum: Agaricomycotina
- ↳ Class: Agaricomycetes
- ↳ Order: Polyporales
- ↳ Family: Polyporaceae
- ↳ Genus: Trametes
Synonyms
- Agaricus versicolor (L.) Lam.
- Agaricus versicolor Plan. ex Zant.
- Boletus versicolor L.
- Coriolus versicolor (L.) Quél.
- Coriolus versicolor f. azureus (Fr.) Rajchenb.
- Polyporus fuscatus Fr.
- Polyporus nigricans Lasch
- Polyporus versicolor (L.) Fr.
- Polyporus versicolor var. nigricans Fr.
- Polystictus azureus Fr.
- Polystictus versicolor (L.) Fr.
- Polystictus versicolor var. fuscatus (Fr.) Rea
- Polystictus versicolor var. nigricans (Lasch) Rea
- Polystictus versicolor var. nigricans Lasch
- Poria versicolor (L.) Scop.
- Trametes versicolor (L.) Pilat
- Xerocomus chrysenteron var. versicolor (Rostkov.) Mass.
Reference Sources
G. Kibby (2020) Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain & Europe Vol. 1. Geoffrey Kibby.
Genus Trametes
No other species found in this genus.
