How to identify Conifer Mazegill

To correctly identify Conifer Mazegill (Gloeophyllum sepiarium), check each of these features in order. Misidentification is the most common cause of mushroom poisoning, so cross-reference multiple sources.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Cap

   Shape, color, surface texture, and diameter.

   The upper surface is concentrically zoned, velvety or hairy when young, becoming smoother with age. Color is variable, ranging from yellowish-brown to rusty brown, dark brown, or nearly black, often with a brighter yellowish-orange margin, especially when young and actively growing. The margin can be wavy or lobed.

2. 2

   Gills

   Attachment to stem, color, and spacing.

   Unlike true gills, these are highly labyrinthine (maze-like) or sometimes more poroid, especially towards the margin. They are typically rusty brown to dark brown, often with a brighter, sterile, yellowish-orange margin. The spore-bearing surface is decurrent on resupinate portions.

3. 3

   Stem

   Length, shape, surface, and any ring.

   Sessile (stemless), attached directly to the wood, or sometimes effuso-reflexed (partially resupinate with an upturned cap-like margin).

4. 4

   Flesh

   Color, texture, and bruising reaction.

   Tough, leathery, and corky, rusty brown to dark brown in color. Does not change color when cut or bruised.

5. 5

   Fruiting body

   Overall growth pattern.

   Typically fan-shaped, bracket-like, or elongated, growing in overlapping tiers or singly. Tough and leathery to woody when mature. Dimensions range from 3-15 cm wide and 1-4 cm thick, projecting up to 8 cm from the substrate.

6. 6

   Habitat

   Where it grows and on what substrate.

   Saprobic on dead wood of coniferous trees, rarely on hardwoods. Commonly found on logs, stumps, fallen branches, and structural timbers, causing a brown rot. It can be found on both standing and fallen wood.

Key Facts

Cap surfaces

Velvety to hairy when young, becoming smoother; concentrically zoned.

Growth Form

Sessile, bracket-like, effuso-reflexed, sometimes overlapping.

Spore Print

White to pale yellow.

Body color

Caps: yellowish-brown to rusty brown, dark brown, often with a brighter yellowish-orange margin. Pore surface: rusty brown to dark brown.

Odor

Indistinct or faintly woody.

Flesh bruises

Does not bruise.

Height

Not applicable (sessile).

Cap Diameter

3-15 cm wide, 1-4 cm thick.

Fruit body characteristics

• Gill attachment: Decurrent in effuso-reflexed forms, otherwise attached directly to the substrate in bracket forms; often labyrinthine (maze-like) to poroid.
• Stem shape: Absent (sessile).
• Stem surface: Absent.
• Ring: Absent.
• Stem cross-section: Absent.

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