November is a perfect time to talk about turkey tail fungus, Trametes versicolor. (“Versicolor” means “many colors.”) Turkey tail is common, found growing on hardwood stumps and downed logs across North America. It is pretty, with bands of muted colors that resemble an expanded, look-at-me turkey’s tail. Unlike many fungi, the turkey tail is tough, with a texture more like leather than your garden-variety, tender mushroom. It grows in damp, shady areas.

Turkey tail typically grows on dead wood or bark, so if you spot it growing in your garden, take it as a message that the host tree is unhealthy. This may be the only warning message you receive before stormy weather takes the tree to ground. Turkey tail feeds on the lignin and cellulose in dead wood, but the rate of lignin consumption is faster than the cellulose consumption. As a result, a community of the fungus may engender stringy white rot. (A fungus which consumes cellulose faster than lignin will produce a reddish rot.)

Communities of the fungus can be large – the one shown in the accompanying photo spread eight feet on a downed tree trunk. The host is located a few feet away from a creek and is under the shade of tall trees. A nearby trunk also hosted the fungus, but it was several weeks older and the warm colors had faded to several shades of gray. Young specimens can have bands of pink, rose, gold or blue. These fungi can be found year-round, but are most often seen in the fall.

False turkey tail (Stereum ostrea) has color bands similar to the true turkey tail fungus, but it has a smooth underside, while the true version has a rough underside.

Turkey tail is both attractive and useful, as it breaks down fallen trees and helps keep the forest floor cleared of limb litter. It is not considered edible by humans — not toxic, but not tasty.

Wishing all my readers a happy Thanksgiving. We have so many reasons to feel grateful!