Plate 095 · on a cut stump IdentificationFive marks on the plate
- 1Concentric bands of grey, brown and ochre.
- 2Pale margin, thin and wavy.
- 3White to cream pores, 3 to 5 per mm.
- 4Velvety surface, with fine hairs.
- 5On stumps and logs of broadleaf trees.
Easily confused with False turkey tailStereum spp.Smooth underside, no pores. Hairy bracketTrametes villosaHairier and duller, without such contrasting bands. 095 / 100 · FUNGI & LICHENS · POLYPORACEAENOT EVALUATED Turkey tail
Trametes versicolor
Cola de pavo · Many-zoned polypore
Its fans banded in grey, brown and cream cover stumps and fallen logs. In the Yungas it rots Andean alder and many other trees. A local form, f. tucumanensis, has been recorded from Tucumán and Santiago del Estero.
- Cap
- up to 10 cm
- Altitude
- c. 400 – 2,200 m
- Pores
- 3 – 5 per mm
- Thickness
- 1 – 3 mm
- White rot
- Stumps and logs
- In rosettes
- Year-round
Altitude rangeThrough every forest belt
Rainforest and montane woodland Recorded in Tucumán at Tafí del Valle and the Quebrada del Portugués on Andean alder wood, and in the lower forest of the Sierra de San Javier.
EcologyA major recycler
- Stumps and logsBroadleaf trees · substrate
- Andean alderAlnus acuminata · dead wood
- White rotBreaks down lignin and cellulose
- Moths and beetlesLarvae in the caps
It is one of the first fungi to colonise freshly cut wood. It softens the wood and opens the way for insects and other fungi.
Life cycleOverlapping rosettes
J F M A M J J A S O N D Active growthPersists, dry - Inside the wood. The white mycelium spreads through the dead trunk and rots it from within.
- Like roof tiles. The caps grow in overlapping rows that can cover the whole stump.
- White pores. Spores leave from tiny pores on the underside and travel on the air.
Where to look in Tucumán- Río Los Sosa
- Tafí del Valle (RP 307)
- Sierra de San Javier
- Parque Provincial La Florida