19 September 2009 Surrey. Photograph copyright Leif Goodwin. Synonymns Piptoporus betulinus Common Name Birch bracket, razor strop fungus Cap Bracket shaped, laterally attached, stem short or absent, upper surface smooth, white to grey to brown, margin rounded, underside whitish, ochraceous when old, pores 3 to 5 per mm, to about 25 cm across Flesh Soft, white Smell Pleasant, fungal Taste Bitter Season Annual, fruiting bodies can be seen throughout the year Distribution Very common Habitat On living and dead birch trees Spore Print White Microscopic Features Spores cylindrical to allantoid, smooth, hyaline (4-6) X (1.3-2) µm2. Basidia clavate, four spored. Hyphal system dimitic to trimitic. Generative hyphae with clamps. Edibility Inedible Notes Old fruiting bodies are often parasitised by an ascomycete, Hypocrea pulvinata |