Schizophyllum amplum (Poplar Bells)

The fruit body is somewhat cup-shaped, with the mouth of the cup facing down. It is fleshy and thin (perhaps a millimetre or so) and up to 2 centimetres in diameter. The light brown (or light orange-brown) underside (in other words, the inside of the cap) may have some weak ridges but overall it is smooth. The outer surface is white and felty to the touch.

It grows on wood and often a number of fruit bodies appear together. Each fruit body is attached to the wood by a small holdfast. In Canberra I have seen it on dead branches (fallen or still attached) of introduced deciduous trees – generally poplar.

Spore print: white.

For many years it was known as Auriculariopsis ampla.

Look-alikes

You should not confuse this species with any other fungus. Some species of Stereum may be of similar size, on wood and somewhat cup-like, but they have a leathery texture lack this combination of colours. Various soft, brown cup-like ascomycetes are found growing on soil (and so with the cup opening upward).