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Cinnabar Bracket vs Turkey Tail

Pycnoporus cinnabarinus and Trametes versicolor are confused for one another often enough to be worth putting next to each other.

Pycnoporus cinnabarinusCinnabar BracketInedible / unclear

Startling orange-red bracket on dead hardwood. Corky and inedible.

Trametes versicolorTurkey TailInedible / unclear

Beautiful concentric bands, but thin and leathery. Used for tea and extracts, never as food.

Side by side

Pycnoporus cinnabarinusTrametes versicolor
In this gameInedible / unclearInedible / unclear
HabitatDead broadleaf branches, especially cherry, rowan and birch.Overlapping tiers on dead broadleaf wood, stumps and fallen branches.
SeasonAll year, colour fading with age.All year, fresh growth in autumn.
Spore printWhite.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.

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Trametes versicolor is also confused with Smoky Bracket and Hairy Curtain Crust.

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