(Trametes versicolor)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Ecology • Distribution • Taxonomy
|
|
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 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 |
||
Sources |
||
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.
Visitor Photos |
||
Share your photo of this fungus. |
||
This button not working for you? |
Luciearl |
||
![]() |
![]() |
|
![]() |
Nancy Falkum |
![]() |
Fungi green and beige |
Alfredo Colon |
||
![]() |
![]() |
Stephanie Segner |
||
medicinal uses: immune booster |
||
![]() |
![]() |
Robert Briggs |
![]() |
Kirk Nelson |
||
![]() |
![]() |
|
Turkey Tail fungus in the Cannon River Wilderness Area |
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
![]() |
Visitor Videos |
||
Share your video of this fungus. |
||
This button not working for you? |
|
Other Videos |
Turkey Tail Mushroom (Trametes versicolor), Dorris Ranch, Springfield, Oregon, USA |
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 |
About
Published on Mar 20, 2012 Website: http://nyishar.com 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! |
Visitor Sightings |
||
Report a sighting of this fungus. |
||
This button not working for you? |
Luciearl 1/25/2025 |
Location: Fairview Twp. |
![]() |
Luciearl 9/24/2023 |
Location: Fairview Twp., Cass County |
![]() |
Apricity Apricity |
Location: Martin County, Fairmont, MN |
Nancy Falkum 5/14/2018 |
Location: Bald Eagle Bluff SNA Fungi green and beige |
![]() |
Alfredo Colon Summer 2019 |
Location: Maplewood Nature Center |
![]() |
Stephanie Segner 8/19/2017 |
Location: Hennepin County medicinal uses: immune booster |
![]() |
Robert Briggs 11/5/2016 |
Location: Spring Lake Park Reserve |
![]() |
Kirk Nelson 8/10/2016 |
Location: Fort Snelling State Park |
![]() |
Kirk Nelson 4/19/2014 |
Location: Cannon River Wilderness Area Turkey Tail fungus in the Cannon River Wilderness Area |
![]() |
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
Created: 4/28/2014 Last Updated: © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved. |