Bracket Fungi on a Fallen Beech Trunk

Turkey tail is one of the most common bracket fungi in the world. It gets its name from the thin banded caps, which fan out in brown, tan and cream like the tail of a wild turkey. Turn one over and there are no gills underneath, only tiny pores where the spores come out. Tiers of it share a fallen beech here with a few bigger brown shelves, moss and pale lichen, deep in a wet autumn wood. It makes an earthy bracket fungi jigsaw puzzle with hardly a straight line in it.