Turkey Tail

(Trametes versicolor)

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed

 
Turkey Tail
Photo by Kirk Nelson
 
Description

Turkey Tail is a very common, very widespread, wood decaying, bracket fungus. It occurs worldwide on all continents except Antarctica. It is the most common polypore and one of the most common mushrooms in North American woodlands. It is very common in Minnesota.

Turkey Tail fruits in the spring and persists through the summer or fall. It is found in rows, dense overlapping clusters, or rosettes on dead logs or stumps. It grows on logs and stumps of dead hardwood trees, especially oaks. It obtains its nutrients from decaying wood (saprobic).

The fruiting body is a small to medium-sized, unstalked bracket. The bracket is circular, semi-circular, fan-shaped, or kidney-shaped. It can be ¾ to 4 in diameter, but is usually no more than 2¾ in diameter. It is leathery and flexible when fresh, becoming rigid and less flexible when dry. The upper surface is dry and velvety due to a dense covering of fine hairs. It is variable in color with narrow, alternating, concentric bands of white, gray, brown, yellowish-buff, reddish-brown, or black. It is also variable in texture, with alternating hairy and silky smooth zones. The margin is white or creamy when the cap is actively growing.

The underside is white to yellowish and densely covered with spore-bearing pores. The pores are minute but visible without a hand lens. There are 3 to 8 pores per millimeter. The spore tubes are no more than 1 16 deep.

The flesh is tough and leathery.

The spore print is white or yellowish.

 

Similar Species

False Turkey Tail (Stereum ostrea) usually forms individual brackets that do not fuse into rosettes. It is often orange above. The underside is smooth to slightly bumpy with no pores.

Smoky Polypore (Bjerkandera adusta) is usually weakly zoned in shades of gray and brown, sometimes not zoned. The margins turn brown to black on mature and older specimens. The pore surface on mature specimens is smoky gray to blackish.

Habitat and Hosts

Dead hardwoods, especially oaks; sometimes on wounds of live trees; rarely on conifers

Ecology

Season

Present year round but fruits in the spring

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

2/7/2025    
     

Occurrence

Very common and widespread

Taxonomy

Kingdom

Fungi (fungi)

Subkingdom

Dikarya

Phylum

Basidiomycota (club fungi)

Subphylum

Agaricomycotina (jelly fungi, yeasts, and mushrooms)

Class

Agaricomycetes (mushrooms, bracket fungi, puffballs, and allies)

Subclass

Agaricomycetidae

Order

Polyporales (shelf fungi)

Family

Polyporaceae (bracket fungi)

Genus

Trametes

Species Complex

Trametes versicolor Species Complex

   

Four species, Trametes pubescens, Trametes ochracea, Trametes ectypa, and Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor), form the Trametes versicolor Species Complex. They are morphologically very similar, differing only in the color and texture of the upperside of the bracket. They are also genetically distinct – they are not sexually compatible.

   

Subordinate Taxa

Four subspecies have been described in the past, but these are now treated as synonyms.

   

Synonyms

Agarico-suber versicolor

Agaricus versicolor

Bjerkandera versicolor

Boletus versicolor

Coriolus antarcticus

Coriolus versicolor

Hansenia versicolor

Microporus antarcticus

Microporus fuscatus

Microporus nigricans

Microporus versicolor

Pleuropus versicolor

Polyporus antarcticus

Polyporus argyraceus

Polyporus fuscatus

Polyporus nigricans

Polyporus versicolor

Polystictus aequus

Polystictus antarcticus

Polystictus fuscatus

Polystictus nigricans

Polystictus versicolor

Poria versicolor

Sistotrema versicolor

Trametes versicolor ssp. antarctica

Trametes versicolor ssp. fuscata

Trametes versicolor ssp. nigrozonata

Trametes versicolor ssp. producta

Xerocomus chrysenteron var. versicolor

   

Common Names

Many-colored Polypore

Turkey Tail

Turkeytail

Turkey-tail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Saprobic

A term often used for saprotrophic fungi. Referring to fungi that obtain their nutrients from decayed organic matter.

 

 

 

 

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Luciearl

Turkey Tail   Turkey Tail
     
Turkey Tail    

Nancy Falkum

Turkey Tail

Fungi green and beige

Alfredo Colon

Turkey Tail   Turkey Tail

Stephanie Segner

medicinal uses: immune booster

Turkey Tail   Turkey Tail

Robert Briggs

Turkey Tail

Kirk Nelson

Turkey Tail   Turkey Tail
   

Turkey Tail fungus in the Cannon River Wilderness Area

MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
Turkey Tail

 

Camera

Slideshows

Tramates versicolor
Andree Reno Sanborn

Tramates versicolor

Turkey Tails
Andree Reno Sanborn

Turkey Tails

 

slideshow

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Other Videos

Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor), Dorris Ranch, Springfield, Oregon, USA
Rob Mutch

About

Uploaded on Jan 8, 2012

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trametes_versicolor

Encyclopedia of Life (EOL): http://eol.org/pages/190215/overview

Health Benefits Of Turkey Tail Mushroom
Nyishar

About

Published on Mar 20, 2012

Website: http://nyishar.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/greateasternsun
Newsletter: http://nyishar.us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=cb8e6b5f31713bda941ee064b&id=122f6ad8a7

An afternoon spent in the forest provided some incredible medicinal mushrooms to take home! The forest itself listened to my intention and offered this majestic medicine in a truly magical way!

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

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Luciearl
1/25/2025

Location: Fairview Twp.

Turkey Tail
Luciearl
9/24/2023

Location: Fairview Twp., Cass County

Turkey Tail

Apricity Apricity
Fall 2021

Location: Martin County, Fairmont, MN

Nancy Falkum
5/14/2018

Location: Bald Eagle Bluff SNA

Fungi green and beige

Turkey Tail
Alfredo Colon
Summer 2019

Location: Maplewood Nature Center

Turkey Tail
Stephanie Segner
8/19/2017

Location: Hennepin County

medicinal uses: immune booster

Turkey Tail
Robert Briggs
11/5/2016

Location: Spring Lake Park Reserve

Turkey Tail
Kirk Nelson
8/10/2016

Location: Fort Snelling State Park

Turkey Tail
Kirk Nelson
4/19/2014

Location: Cannon River Wilderness Area

Turkey Tail fungus in the Cannon River Wilderness Area

Turkey Tail
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

 

 

Binoculars

 

Created: 4/28/2014

Last Updated:

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