Bracket Fungus

Since yesterday's blog had some mushrooms I thought I would continue the theme with today's photograph of fungi growing on a tree in Brugge, Belgium. This fungus is probably Laetiporus sulphureus which is a species of bracket fungus (fungus which grows on trees) found in Europe and North America. Its common names are sulphur polypore, sulphur shelf, and chicken mushroom. Its fruiting bodies grow as striking golden-yellow shelf-like structures on tree trunks and branches. Like other bracket fungi, they may last many years and fade to a more pale grey or brown. The undersurface of the fruiting body is made up of tubelike pores rather than gills. Laetiporus sulphureus is a saprophyte, and causes brown cubical rot in the heartwood of trees on which it grows. Unlike many bracket fungi, it is edible when young.