About this fungus
Lacquered Bracket is a fungus in the Ganodermataceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A hard bracket with a conspicuously varnished red-brown surface, often on a short side stem, and a pale yellow-white growing margin.
What to check
Confirm a glossy lacquered cap, fine round pores rather than gills, and a white pore surface that marks brown after handling. A short off-centre glossy stem is common in the strict species. Microscopic features, substrate and region are needed to separate similar varnished Ganoderma.
Variation
Young growth is yellow, orange or red and darkens through red-brown to near black. The stem can be obvious, short or occasionally poorly developed.
Lookalikes
Ganoderma resinaceum and several other varnished brackets overlap strongly. North American fungi formerly called G. lucidum are usually G. curtisii, G. sessile, G. polychromum or other regional species. Artist's Bracket is dull rather than lacquered.
Habitat and range
The strict species is primarily European and grows at or near the base of broadleaved trees and stumps, especially oak and related hardwoods. Most wild North American and many Asian lacquered Ganoderma require other names.
Food safety
Not generally used as food.
Use this profile to learn what to examine and compare, not as proof that a mushroom is safe to eat. Check the whole specimen and every important lookalike before reaching an identification.
Photographs
Eric Steinert / CC BY-SA 3.0