Trametes versicolor (L.) Lloyd (1920)

Commonly known as the Turkey Tail. This shelf-fungus has small, thin, and leathery overlapping stalkless caps with multicolored concentric zones that alternate between smooth and hairy. It has a white pore surface. The tough basidiocarps will persist overwinter and can be found year-round on dead hardwood logs and stumps.

Also known as Polyporus versicolor and Coriolus versicolor

See Tom Volk’s page on Trametes versicolor

One of the most widespread mushrooms in the world. Found throughout North America and most other countries.

Cap: 2-10cm wide; usually overlapping or in a row or a rosette; kidney shaped, also described as fan shaped, sometimes fused laterally; can be flat to wavy; multicolored concentric zoning on the upper surface; zones alternate between velvety and smooth; color varies quite a bit, shades of brown, orange, tan, and gray are the most common, and colors alternate light and dark; flesh is leathery, 1-3mm thick; caps are stalkless.

Pore surface: whitish-gray; normally 3-5 pores per mm; pores are angular to circular; tubes are 1-2 mm long.

Spores: spores 5-6 × 1.5-2um; cylindrical to sausage-shaped; smooth; hyaline. Spore print is white.

Hyphal system: trimitic; generative hyphae are thin-walled with clamps, 2.5-3 um in diameter; skeletal hyphae thick-walled, nonseptate, 4-6 um in diameter; binding hyphae are also thick-walled, nonseptate, heavily branched, 2-4 um in diameter.

Sexuality: Heterothallic

Type of rot: White

Stereum ostrea looks very similar from the top, but has a smooth hymenophore (lacks pores).

 Stereum ostrea photo courtesy of Dr. Tom Volk

Trametes hirsuta has a densely hairy, grayish-white cap.

Trametes velutina is thicker and has a smoky colored pore surface.

Trametes ochracea is very similar, but has only brown colors in its concentric zones on the cap.

Trametes versicolor is likely a species complex, consisting of several cryptic (hidden) species. More work needs to be done.

Saprophyte, on dead deciduous wood, sometimes on coniferous wood as well.

One of the best documented medicinal mushrooms, T. versicolor contains antitumor compounds (including the commercial drug PSK) that inhibit growth of cancer cells, and also stimulate the immune system to increase production of cytotoxic T cells (Garcia-Lora et al., 2001). PSK also has potent anti-microbial activity against microbes like Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Candida albicans (Tsukagoshi et al., 1984; Sakagami et al., 1991).

It has been especially useful in fighting hormone-responsive cancers like prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women by inhibiting enzymes (5-alpha-reductase and aromatase, respectively) in the biosynthesis pathways of testosterone and estrogen (Chen et al., 1997).

It’s important to note that this mushroom is relatively simple to culture, and that the medically useful compounds can be extracted not only from the fruiting body, but from the mycelia as well.

Extracts from this mushroom have also been shown to cause selective apoptosis in cancer cells but not in healthy cells (Fisher et al., 2003).

While this mushroom is too tough and leathery to enjoy eating, most of its medicinal compounds are water soluble and can be extracted by cooking in soups or steeping in hot water to make tea.

T. versicolor is also being used for a variety of mycoremediation and mycofiltration projects to break down different toxins and clean up the environment.

 

“T. versicolor is the focus of a spectacular array of studies showing that the secondary metabolites from it’s mycelium—its laccases and oxidized lignin peroxidases— are highly effective in breaking down PAHs including antracines (Johannes et al., 1996); Field et al., 1992), pyrenes, fluorine (Sack and Gunther 1993), methoxybenzenes (Kersten et al. 1990), and styrene (Milstein et al. 1992). These compounds could also aid in the destruction of dimethylmethylphosphonates (nerve toxins) and even the bleaching of pulp (Katagiri et al. 1995). Arica and other researchers (2003) found that the heat-killed mycelium of T. versicolor could selectively absorb mercuric ions from aquatic systems, making this mushroom potentially useful for mycofiltration of mercury.” — Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World.

 

Because of its aesthetically pleasing appearance, dried specimens are sometimes used for decoration, especially in floral arrangements.