Kingdom: Fungi
Family: Fomitopsidaceae
Genus: Laetiporus
“The chicken of the woods”. This may sound like some wild
species of chicken which roams freely in forests, but it is actually a fungus
that grows on decaying deciduous trees (much less exciting, I know). The name
comes from the fungus’ extraordinary resemblance to chicken meat when it is
cooked, although not all parts of the mushroom is edible. It has the same
texture and ‘peeling’ you get with chicken, and the taste resemblance is also
said to be remarkable. It is even used as a vegetarian substitute for chicken
as a delicacy. If not cooked properly, however, it can give you bad stomach
pain, although not as bad as if you eat uncooked actual chicken meat! It can also give you swollen lips, nausea,
vomiting, and dizziness, so double check the cooking instructions if you’re
giving it a go.
The colour of chicken of the woods varies from species to
species, ranging from an off-white colour to bright orange. This is one
of the paler specimens, especially due to the time of year. They usually grow between May and November so this specimen is now
likely very old, leading to it becoming paler and almost chalk-like. As it has
passed is prime, it is likely that this specimen would give you some of the
symptoms I mentioned earlier if you ate it, even if you cooked it properly. They are important in breaking down tough materials
wood is made of and returning the nutrients from the decaying organism to the
soil.
They can grow up to huge sizes, and as this is clearly a
large bracket of the mushrooms it is likely that it has been cut back, which is
why they lack the normal lobed structure. It is likely that it hasn’t been
completely removed as this way it can continue decomposing the dead wood
without creating an obstruction on the path, and it removes the need for the
big task of removing the tree stump manually. What a useful little chicken!
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