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ARTISTS CONK

Ganoderma applanatum
POLYPORE FAMILY (Polyporaceae)

Click on each photo thumbnail to enlarge.

This fungus is 2 inches to 30 inches wide, more or less fan-shaped or irregular. It is a brownish to grayish brown. The underneath pore surface is white becoming dirty yellow or dingy brown to olive in age. The pore surface is readily bruised.

It grows on dead organic matter and sometimes is parasitic. It is common on dying and fallen cottonwood trees in Fontenelle Forest.

When you scratch the white pores underneath it exposes the brown hyphae underneath. A skilled artist can make really nice pictures by doing this. It is also considered a shelf fungus because the fruiting body forms a stalkless shelf on the sides of trees and logs.

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