Stats

Lifespan

A few weeks

Size

Large

Diet

Decomposer

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Worldwide

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Spores

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Common

About

A large bracket fungus with a distinctive fan-shaped cap covered in brown scales, earning it the nickname 'pheasant's back mushroom.' It can grow up to 60 cm across and causes white rot in the heartwood of living and dead hardwood trees.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   spore

   A microscopic spore drifts on air or water and germinates where moisture and substrate meet.
2. 2.
   mycelium

   A thread-like mycelium spreads through the substrate, breaking it down into nutrients.
3. 3.
   fruiting body

   A mature fruiting body emerges to release the next generation of spores.

Learn more

• View on iNaturalist →
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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Fungi

Phylum

Basidiomycota

Class

Agaricomycetes

Order

Polyporales

Family

Polyporaceae

Genus

Cerioporus

Species

Cerioporus squamosus