Dryad's Saddle / Pheasant's Back

Polyporus squamosus – Edible

On stumps and windfalls of deciduous trees. Spring, summer.

An annual mushroom. Cap 5—30 (60) across, 2—6 cm thick, irregularly shaped, yellowish, covered with dark brown, radially arranged scales. Tubes up to 7 mm long, yellowish, brownish. Stem 3-10x3-5 cm, woody, lateral, yellowish, black at the base. Flesh up to 4 cm thick, corky, with a woody smell, yellowish.

Characteristic features: fruiting bodies very large; the mushroom is fairly common, especially on stumps in parks and along roadsides. Edible when young.