Chicken of the Woods

A real treat spotted on a dog walk yesterday - a Chicken of the Woods fungus (Laetiporus sulphureus) growing on a wild cherry tree.

Also known as the Sulphur Polypore, Sulphur Surprise or Sulphur Shelf, it grows on the trunks of deciduous trees such as oak, cherry or sweet chestnut - usually quite high up among the branches. 

And it tastes of chicken! It really does. However, it's only any good if it's young, tender, and moist. This one was already too firm and woody for good eating.

I have said that I won't put any wild foods on this blog that are confusable with anything poisonous. This is no exception. There are no poisonous look-alikes for the Chicken of the Woods, as long as you find them on deciduous trees. 

DON'T eat them if they are attached to evergreen trees, such as conifers and eucalyptus and particularly Yew (see here) because that will be a similar-looking species (Laetiporus conifericola). It only grows on evergreens and, while not actually poisonous, it is unpleasant in taste as it takes in various oils and resins from the trees. In the case of Yew trees, which are poisonous, eating the fungus could make you quite ill. It will certainly give you a very bad stomach.

There is also a similarly coloured mushroom called the Jack-O-Lantern (Omphalotus olearius). However it clearly has gills on the underside of the cap - just like a mushroom you'd find in a supermarket. So it's actually not much like a Chicken of the Woods at all, which has pores rather than gills.

Photo by JovanaK (Creative Commons)

The Jack-O-Lantern is poisonous and slightly bioluminescent so it glows in the dark - hence the name. It's also not terribly common so your chances of making a mistake are reduced even more. 

But, as always, unless you are 100% sure, leave well alone.