Chicken Of The Woods

Laetiporus sulphureus (Bull.) Murrill

Also called: Sulphur Polypore, Chicken-Of-The-Woods

Safety first

Many edible mushrooms have toxic lookalikes, and some of those can be fatal. Have any mushroom identified in person by a local expert before you eat it.

If someone may have eaten a wild mushroom, call US Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or 911 right away. In Canada, call your provincial poison centre or 911.

Edibility

Edible (per source) Source: Wikipedia: Laetiporus sulphureus

Classification from Wikipedia: Laetiporus sulphureus. Sources can be wrong or incomplete, and people react differently.

Never eat a wild mushroom based on this site or any app.

Photos

Lookalikes

No lookalikes are recorded for this species yet. That does not mean there are none. Many mushrooms look alike, so never rely on appearance alone.

Season

When this species has been recorded, by month, from open-licensed US and Canada observations. It shows when people report it, not a guarantee it is fruiting.

The highlighted bar is the current month.

View season data as a table
Recorded observations of Chicken Of The Woods by month
MonthRecords
January15
February19
March38
April59
May304
June450
July653
August1,163
September1,417
October769
November133
December46

Where it is found

States and provinces with the most records. Check the foraging rules for the place you plan to visit.

Show 43 more
  • Connecticut89 records
  • Tennessee88 records
  • Vermont77 records
  • Quebec69 records
  • Iowa66 records
  • British Columbia63 records
  • District of Columbia62 records
  • California58 records
  • Kentucky57 records
  • Washington57 records
  • Missouri50 records
  • Georgia49 records
  • New Hampshire44 records
  • Maine33 records
  • Texas31 records
  • Louisiana28 records
  • Florida27 records
  • Arkansas26 records
  • Nova Scotia26 records
  • Delaware25 records
  • Alabama19 records
  • Hawaii19 records
  • Kansas19 records
  • Oregon19 records
  • South Carolina19 records
  • Rhode Island18 records
  • Idaho16 records
  • Montana13 records
  • South Dakota12 records
  • Alaska11 records
  • Manitoba9 records
  • Mississippi8 records
  • Arizona5 records
  • Nebraska4 records
  • New Brunswick4 records
  • North Dakota3 records
  • Oklahoma3 records
  • Alberta1 records
  • Colorado1 records
  • New Mexico1 records
  • Newfoundland and Labrador1 records
  • Prince Edward Island1 records
  • Utah1 records

All state and province foraging laws

Identification traits

Cap shapeflat
Underside (gills, pores or teeth)pores
Ecologysaprotrophic
Spore print colorwhite

Traits vary. Use them to ask better questions of an expert, not to make a final call.

About

Laetiporus sulphureus is a species of bracket fungus (fungi that grow on trees). Its common names include sulphur polypore, sulphur shelf, and chicken-of-the-woods. Its fruit bodies grow as striking golden-yellow shelf-like structures on tree trunks and branches. Old fruitbodies fade to pale beige or pale grey. The undersurface of the fruit body is made up of tubelike pores rather than gills. Found in Europe and North America, L. sulphureus is a saprophyte and occasionally a weak parasite, causing brown cubical rot in the heartwood of trees on which it grows. Unlike many bracket fungi, it is edible when young, although adverse reactions have been reported.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the original article.

Never eat a wild mushroom based on this site or any app. See safety basics and the disclaimer.