Showy and Common

Trametes hirsuta, Hairy Bracket.  High Elms Country Park, 8 January 2017.

In this post are two rather similar fungi that produce showy displays when they are fresh.  This first one is Hairy Bracket, Trametes hirsuta.  Similar to, and nearly as common as Turkeytail, Trametes versicolor.  The individual brackets are a couple of inches across and, when young, they are quite hairy.

Trametes hirsuta, Hairy Bracket.  High Elms Country Park, 8 January 2017.

They can completely cover a dead log, like this.  The colour forms range from light brown to almost black, and the zoning effect you can see here makes it an easily recognisable species (except that there is another similar one - a common problem for identifiers! - which has larger brackets.)

The second fungus in this post also produces many small brackets, and can also cover dead wood.

Stereum hirsutum, Hairy Curtain Crust.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

It can even have a similar zoned appearance, as you can see here.

Stereum hirsutum, Hairy Curtain Crust.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

And, as you might expect from its name, it's hairy!

Stereum hirsutum, Hairy Curtain Crust.  Topside and underside.  High Elms Country Park, 2 January 2017.

But the hairs last longer.  Old Turkeytail does not look particularly hairy, and the brackets seem quite thin.  And if you are ever in doubt about which one you are looking at, the underside is completely different.  That last photo shows the underside of Hairy Curtain Crust on the right.  Here is the underside of Turkeytail:

Trametes versicolor, Turkeytail.  Underside.  High Elms Country Park, 8 January 2017.

Very obviously covered with pores.