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Ochre Trametes (Trametes ochracea)

Trametes ochracea
Current name

Index Fungorum Trametes ochracea (Pers.) Gilb. & Ryvarden

MycoBank Trametes ochracea (Pers.) Gilb. & Ryvarden

Other names

Ochre polypore. Its English name is turkey tail.

Systematic position
Specific epithet etymology

Ochraceus, a, um (mycol.) — ochre-colored, ochraceous; brownish-yellow; reddish-brown. From ochrus + -aceus.

Synonyms

Coriolus hirsutus var. ochraceus (Pers.) Maire, Actes Inst. Bot. Univ. Athènes 1: 78 (1940) 

Polyporus ochraceus (Pers.) Sommerf., Supplementum florae lapponicae: 276 (1826) 

Polystictus ochraceus (Pers.) Lloyd, Mycol. Lett.: 12 (1917)

Polyporus versicolor var. ochraceus (Pers.) Pers., Mycologia Europaea 2: 72 (1825) 

Coriolus ochraceus (Pers.) Prance (1984) 

Trametes ochracea var. ochracea (?)

Habit
Fruiting body
Sessile, bracket-shaped, hoof-shaped, or as an irregular crust/rosette
Hymenophore
Tubulate, poroid
Fruiting period (list)
AugAugust (1st–10th)August (11th–20th)August (21st–31st)SepSeptember (1st–10th)September (11th–20th)September (21st–30th)OctOctober (1st–10th)October (11th–20th)
Fruit body

Annual or overwintering, usually imbricate (tile-like), sessile or resupinate-reflexed, half-rounded, kidney-shaped or fan-shaped, often narrowed at the base, typically convex on top, frequently with a small bump or hump near the base. Sometimes specimens fuse at the margins, forming gallery-like structures. Up to 7 cm across at the widest point and up to 1 cm thick; leathery or leathery-corky in texture.

The cap surface is faintly woolly or suede-like, nearly smooth, with concentric zoning. Zones alternate in texture (pressed-down vs. upright fuzzy or woolly, sometimes completely bare) and in color intensity: ochre-fawn near the base, lighter toward the margin, sometimes nearly white, darkening with age to rusty-ochre with a greenish bloom [1], grayish, gray-ochre, light brown-ochre, rusty-yellowish, or umber-chestnut in old basidiomes. Young basidiomes often show indistinct zoning. Faint radial grooves and small bumps may also be visible on the cap surface.

The margin of the fruiting body is thin, straight or wavy, often paler than the rest of the cap, and sterile on the underside near the edge.

The hymenophore is tubular, slightly bumpy, pure white when young, turning yellowish-fawn with age; sterile for up to 1 cm from the margin. Tubes are up to 2 mm long. Pores range from round to angular, small, with thick walls, short (1–2 mm long), initially white or cream, becoming ochre-brownish, brownish, or grayish-brown with age. Pores are round to angular, with entire edges, 3–4 per mm.

Flesh

Thin, white, darkening slightly with age; corky-leathery in texture, with a barely noticeable dark zone beneath the woolly layer.

Odor

Weak, mushroomy.

Microscopy

Spore print: whitish-yellow. Spores measure (5) 6–7 × 1.5–2 µm, cylindrical, slightly allantoid, smooth, and hyaline.

Ecology and distribution

Found on dead standing trees, fallen logs, stumps, and branches of birch, oak, alder, aspen, and other deciduous species in the second stage of decomposition, within deciduous, mixed, and taiga forest zones. Very rarely, as an exception, it occurs on conifers. It can also grow on processed wood and in buildings as a house fungus. A common species in the forests of the East European Plain. Appears in the second half of the growing season.

Nutritional properties
Inedible
Similar species

The fruiting bodies of ochre trametes can look very similar to turkey tail (Trametes versicolor), differing primarily in their predominance of gray and yellowish-brown tones.

Additionally, T. ochracea and T. versicolor can be distinguished as follows:

- a dark-colored bump at the base, with blurred zones — T. ochracea

- funnel-shaped without a basal bump, with clear zoning — T. versicolor.

In cross-section, T. versicolor has a distinct dark zone, about as thick as a hair, directly beneath the fuzzy upper surface. In T. ochracea, this zone is either absent or barely visible.

Fruiting bodies of T. ochracea are usually stiff and rigid, unlike the thin, flexible fruiting bodies of T. versicolor. The coloration of T. ochracea is paler, with less pronounced zoning and lower contrast between zones.

Notes

An alcohol extract of T. ochracea exhibits anti-inflammatory activity and also inhibits heat-induced hemolysis of red blood cells.

Link to this page for printed editions
Shipovalov A.G. Ochre Trametes (Trametes ochracea) - Mushrooms of Vologda Region [Electronic resource] URL: https://xn----7sbancweblffgklubds60aja.xn--p1ai/en/ochre-trametes-trametes-ochracea (accessed: 13.04.2026).
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