Good evening team. This week’s mushroom is Trametes lactinea. Another white/grey Trametes species not only to honor the snowfall but to also further enlighten and confuse us. This specimen was found growing on the large, downed sweetgum in the north woods on 1/12/2021. T. lactinea grows on the dead wood of deciduous hardwoods and can be found year-round in eastern North America. The extent of its range is unknown but there’s documentation of it in South America, Europe, and Asia as well. The best ID tips for T. lactinea are that the pores are large, neatly organized, and become less prominent toward the margins of the cap. The top of the cap grows concentric rings, like T. versicolor (turkey tail), but not as colorful nor as prominent. T. lactinea also grows bumps/warts on the top of the cap close to where it attaches to the wood. Like other Trametes species it possesses antimicrobial and anti-carcinogenic properties (Knežević et al, 2018). I hope you didn’t stay up too late waiting for this and more importantly I hope you all enjoyed the snowfall.
Best,
Aubrey