Tickled Pink! – The Blushing Bracket

I hope people don’t mind me featuring an overdue fungus to the Mushroom Diary. Yes, it’s a common, dull and inedible bracket fungus that appears in many numbers throughout the year. But just in case you’re not sure what this familiar sight is, it will be a pleasure for me to explain for you…

Extremely common in our English woodlands, the Blushing Bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa) is often found on the dead wood of Willow trees but also on many kinds of deciduous trees.

The semi-circular or fan shaped brackets, often in grouped tiers, can grow up to 15cm across. The upper surface shows distinctive radiating ‘bands’ and has a wrinckled surface texture (smoother when young). They are often thicker at the point of attachment to the wood (up to 5cm) and the margin remains thin and undulating.

As an ‘all year round’ fungus, like a lot of bracket fungi, it’s colour changes dramatically throughout it’s lifetime. When young to middle-aged they are white or have a white-pinkish tinge. They age to a much darker reddish/brown and become a lot tougher and ‘corky’ in consistency.

When younger and more fresh, a little test on the underside can reveal their identity. The white(ish) pores are quite large and are a mix of elongated slots and round holes. Rubbing these with your finger you will see them readily bruise (or should I say ‘blush’) pinkish/red. This is unique to this bracket alone.

When they are very young and quite small I often think they may be something new I haven’t seen before, but over time I have realised that the ‘tickled pink’ test will tell me what it is straight away. It’s always good to have an ‘in the field’ test under your belt.

The Blushing Bracket (Daedaleopsis confragosa) turns a deep red/brown as it ages. Notice the Pinkish/Red bruising on the pores (top-right). This is how it got it’s common name.