Trametes ochracea
Trametes ochracea is a common polypore mushroom native to North America and Europe, although rarer than some other Trametes species. It is a related species to, and is a lookalike of the pale variety of Trametes versicolor. Like T. versicolor, it is commonly called turkey tail, and other common names are ochre bracket and ochre trametes.
T. ochracea is a close relative of the more famous T. versicolor, so research into its medicinal value is limited yet occurring, and it is likely it is of similar medicinal value.
Etymology
The specific epithet ochracea, meaning 'ochre', refers to the orange, brown, and ochre colors of T. ochracea.Description
The fruiting body is shaped similar to Trametes versicolor, having a rounded, shelf-like fruiting body that can have a wavy edge. It has no discernable stalk, and the tough flesh is thick, and can be up to thick at the point of attachment. The flat cap may be up to across. It has zones of fine hairs, colored ochre-yellow or orange. Unlike Trametes versicolor, there is no black layer underneath the tomentum that sits above the whitish flesh. The pore layer is creamy ochre.Similar species
Trametes versicolor, as described above, is a closely related species to T. ochracea, and can be easily confused for the latter when looking at a pale variety, however in general it is usually darker and has smaller pores and spores. T. suvaeolens is a much paler relative, and is much less densely overlapping tiers. Several corticoid fungi can grow as similarly zoned fruit bodies, however they have smooth hymenium, not pores.Ecology
Trametes ochracea is a white rot fungus that mainly grows in the wild on beech and oak wood. It degrades lignin from lignincellulosic materials, such as wood and wood products, and is therefore able to be cultivated.This species is likely eaten by similar or the same insects that eat T. versicolor, such as fungus moths, gnats, and the maggots of mushroom flies.