Toothed bracket fungus fruits on old maple in Finlayson Palace Park

A large toothed bracket fungus has appeared on an old maple in Finlayson Palace Park in Tampere. Aamulehti reported the find and quoted Tomi Kumpulainen, curator at the Tampere Natural History Museum, who identified the growth as a toothed bracket fungus.

The name refers to the tiny spines that cover the underside of its fruiting body. The fungus lives as perennial mycelium in the wood of mature deciduous trees and slowly decomposes the trunk. Fruiting bodies can appear on the same tree year after year. Removing a visible fruiting body does not eliminate the organism.

The species is relatively uncommon in natural forests, likely because old broadleaf trees are scarce, Kumpulainen says. It is encountered more often in urban parks, especially on maples and lindens, and occasionally on birch.