Turkey Tail Fungus (Trametes versicolor)

[RandyRFJP]

Various Colorations of Turkey Tail Fungus - Little Red Schoolhouse, Cook County, IL Forest Preserve; 2016-10-23

Specimen 1:




Specimen 2:




Specimen 3:



I am by no means an expert on identifying fungi. I am reasonably confident on the ID of specimens 1 & 3, but not as confident on the ID of specimen 2. Any corrections or validations of IDs, as well as C&C, will be appreciated.

[Geoff F]

Have a look at Trametes hirsuta for the last one. Noticeably hairy on top.

Trametes are quite variable but I have never found a version like #1. That is a real Christmas design; like those multicoloured pullover presents which only get worn once.

[Shadowman]

Nice, that last one has some rich colors.

[madcrow]

Fabulous images, never seen the likes before. Great colours.

[Wavelength]

That is very colorful!!!!

[RandyRFJP]

Have a look at Trametes hirsuta for the last one. Noticeably hairy on top.

Trametes are quite variable but I have never found a version like #1. That is a real Christmas design; like those multicoloured pullover presents which only get worn once.

Thanks, Geoff. All three specimens have some degree of "white hairs" on them, but #3 is the most hirsute, so it may be the hirsuta species. I knew from some basic research that Trametes are very variable in appearance. I'd guess that the coloration may be due, in part, to the composition of the substrate they are growing on. I saw quite a few specimens that had various degrees of greenish "tints" on them, but because they seemed to be in very moist areas, I assumed that an algae species may have been growing on their surface. I like your analogy of specimen #1 to a Christmas gift sweater!

[RandyRFJP]

Nice, that last one has some rich colors.

Thanks John. I think I was present at an ideal time to find these specimens, and I was surprised at the different color variations I came across.

[RandyRFJP]

That is very colorful!!!!

I'm glad you liked the photos, Nandakumar. Thanks for your comment.

[RandyRFJP]

Fabulous images, never seen the likes before. Great colours.

Thanks, Maurice. These are very common in Illinois, but I've never seen so many different colorations of them as I did during the outing when I photographed these specimens.