Thin orange-yellow crusts on dead branches — no flesh worth speaking of.
Side by side
Chondrostereum purpureum
Stereum hirsutum
In this game
Inedible / unclear
Inedible / unclear
Habitat
Dead and dying broadleaf wood, especially plum, cherry and birch.
Dead broadleaf wood, especially oak and beech, in crusts and small brackets.
Season
All year, best in autumn.
All year.
Spore print
White.
White.
This comparison cannot make a mushroom safe to eat. It sets out the few characteristics this game records, in general terms, for two species that vary by region, age and growing conditions. Real specimens overlap in ways no table and no photograph can separate, and the deadly one here is deadly in a single meal. Ask a qualified local expert, every time.