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Chicken of the woods, white pored

Laetiporus cincinnatus

Photo by MeganM
Published on Project Noah
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41.6607, -91.5302

Field Notes

Description:

It's called the "chicken of the woods" because of its remarkable taste and resemblance to chicken meat when cooked properly. It even has the same texture and the same "peeling" that you have with chicken. The whole fruiting body is usually edible and purportedly more delicious than the "true" chicken of the woods (see reference http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/jul2001.html).

Habitat:

Prefers oaks, and is found east of the Rocky Mountains. Laetiporus cincinnatus creates a butt or root rot, so it fruits at the base of the tree or from roots (thus appearing terrestrial).

Notes:

White pore surface. Flesh is thick; soft and watery when young, then becomes tough, eventually crumbling away. The second photo shows this crumbling.

Species ID Suggestions

Laetiporus Mushroom

Laetiporus cincinnatus

Comments (1)

Thanks so much for the ID, JaredTCalvert!! I have updated this spotting's information. It was great to read about this species; I only wish I had known it was edible at the time I found it. I would have loved to try it!

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