Splitgill

Description

The splitgill is a small, fan-shaped or shell-shaped mushroom 1–4 cm across, stemless, attached sideways to wood. The top is felty, whitish to grey. The underside is formed by grey to reddish-brown folds split lengthwise, like double gills.

It grows all year round on dead wood, stumps and dry branches, usually in sunny places. In Poland it is very common. In drought the fruiting bodies curl up, and after rain they revive.

Its small size and tough, leathery flesh make it useless in the kitchen. Do not collect it for eating.

Identification features

Cap

Fruiting body stemless, 1–4 cm in diameter, circular, semicircular, fan-shaped or shell-shaped; attached to the substrate sideways. Surface felty, whitish to grey, covered with bristles, radially wrinkled or furrowed; sometimes with a beige or pink tint, and greenish where algae have settled.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

Gill-like folds, grey to pale reddish-brown or cream-yellow to white, in a group of fruiting bodies resembling lengthwise-split gills, which is a feature of the genus. In dry weather they curl up and protect the spores from drying out. No stem, so no attachment to a stem.

Stem

No stem.

Flesh

Fleshy in young specimens, quickly becoming bast-like and leathery; pliable and elastic when moist. Smell and taste: no data; it should not be tasted.

Spore print and spores

Spore print white. Spores colourless, elliptical, smooth, measuring 3–4 × 1–1.5 µm.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. A saprotroph and weak parasite causing white rot of wood. Grows on dead wood of broadleaf and coniferous trees, on trunks, stumps, dry branches, stored timber, also on wounded places of living trees. It avoids damp habitats, occurring mainly in sunny places. It is sometimes a fungus growing on other fungi, on lichens and on the hairy bracket (Trametes hirsuta). After drying it can remain dormant for years and revive when moistened.

Distribution. Cosmopolitan, common all over the world, very common in Poland. It is not protected in Poland.

Fruiting. All year round.

What can it be confused with?

• Crepidotus variabilis (variable oysterling) — Gills not split, spore print brown, grows in damper habitats.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• The genus name comes from the Greek schíza (“split”), and commune means “common”.
• Dry fruiting bodies can remain dormant for decades and revive when moistened.
• The species has a tetrapolar mating system with an estimated more than 23,000 mating types.