Oak Mazegill

Oak Mazegill Daedalea quercina (L.) Pers. (illustrated 40% life size) Bracket 4–20cm×3–8cm across, 1.5–5cm thick, singly or occasionally in shelved groups; creamy or ochraceous tinged with grey, drying pallid or umber; hard and corky, upper surface uneven. Flesh pale wood-coloured; smell faintly acrid or fungusy. Tubes 10–30mm long; ochraceous-cream. Pores large, irregular and maze-like, often elongate, resembling gills. Spores 6–7.5×3–3.5¼, elliptical. Hyphal structure trimitic. Habitat on dead deciduous wood, almost entirely restricted to oak in Britain; from spring onwards. Common. Not edible.