Inedible, used in teas
Turkey Tail
Trametes versicolor
Has a white underside covered in tiny pores. False turkey tail is smooth underneath.
False Turkey Tail
Stereum ostrea
Inedible
Also called golden curtain crust.
False turkey tail is a thin, zoned bracket fungus with orange, red-brown and tan bands. It looks like turkey tail from above, but its underside is smooth. It grows on dead hardwood year-round.
The tell
A thin, banded bracket like turkey tail, but with a completely smooth underside and no pores.
Field marks
What to look at
Cap, underside and stem show in a photo. The spore print does not, and it is often the deciding check.
- Cap
- Thin, fan- to shell-shaped brackets, often in overlapping groups. Hairy to velvety, with concentric zones of orange, red-brown, tan and buff; sometimes greenish with algae.
- Underside
- Smooth, with no pores, gills or teeth. Buff to orange-brown or reddish brown.
- Stem
- None. Brackets attach directly to the wood, sometimes by a narrow base.
- Flesh
- Thin, tough and leathery.
- Spore print
- White.
- Size
- Each bracket 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 8 cm) wide and paper-thin.
Where and when
Where and when it grows
- Habitat
- Hardwood forests, parks and yards, on logs, stumps and fallen branches.
- Grows on
- Dead hardwood.
- Season
- Year-round; fresh growth in wet weather.
- Range
- Across North America, most common in the East.
Lookalikes
What the false turkey tail gets confused with
Each card says how to tell the two apart.
Hairy curtain crust (Stereum hirsutum)
A related crust with a yellow-orange underside and a hairier, less brightly zoned top, often spreading flat on the wood.
Crimped gill (Plicaturopsis crispa)
Smaller and fan-shaped, with crimped, gill-like folds on a whitish underside.
Edibility
What the field guides say
Inedible
Field guides list false turkey tail as inedible because it is thin and leathery. It is not known to be toxic.
This page states what field guides record. It is not advice to eat, taste or handle anything, and a photo cannot settle edibility. If someone has eaten a wild mushroom that may be toxic, call poison control (1-800-222-1222 in the US) right away, before symptoms start: the deadliest species act hours later.
FAQ
Questions about the false turkey tail
How do you tell false turkey tail from turkey tail?
The underside is the test. Turkey tail has tiny pores on a white surface; false turkey tail is smooth, with no pores, and usually brown to orange underneath.
Is false turkey tail poisonous?
It is not known to be toxic. Field guides list it as inedible because it is tough and leathery.
Where does false turkey tail grow?
On dead hardwood logs, stumps and branches across North America, especially in the East. It grows and persists year-round.
Sources
Where these facts come from
- Stereum ostrea
MushroomExpert.com
- Stereum ostrea
Fungi Growing on Wood, Gary Emberger (MushroomExpert.com)
- False Turkey Tail
Missouri Department of Conservation
- Stereum ostrea
Index Fungorum
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