Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: bracket fungus

I have seen various species of shelf or bracket fungus, but I’m never sure of their IDs. I think, but am not sure, that this could be an Artist’s Conk (Ganoderma applanatum). Photograph was taken on 6 September 2014 at Brown-Lowery Provincial Park, SW of Calgary. “The shelf fungi are a major wood rotting group. Once a tree is infected, the fungus cannot be killed. Artists use shelf fungi to make etchings and beads. The pore surface of the Artist's Conk, Ganoderma applanatum, changes color when bruised. A nail produces broad lines; sharp needles produce very fine lines. An intricate etching takes a lot of patience and time. Beads are made by carving large shelves much like you would a block of wood.” herbarium.usu.edu/fungi/funfacts/shelffungi.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganoderma_applanatum

This was a rather fine display of fungi growing on a tree in the forest on Rod Handfield's land, when a few of us spent the day botanizing there on 17 August 2012. Such harsh sunlight, unfortunately, which tended to blow out many of my photos.

This really was a huge fungus, growing near the base of a tree in Brown-Lowery Provincial Park on August 20th. I think I have the ID correct! Note the typical brown staining around the bracket fungus. This really isn't the most photogenic fungus, but I wanted a record of it for my Fungi of Alberta set. Some Artist's Conks are used by artists to do their etching. The underside of a fresh artist's conk is white and turns brown wherever scratched or scored. Once it dries out it becomes very hard and the artwork becomes permanent. Must admit I'd rather know that they were still growing in the forest : ) mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomartist.html