Hymenochaete tabacina

Scientific name:  Hymenochaete tabacina (Sowerby)
Leveille
Derivation of name: Tabac- means "tobacco" as in its
color or odor.  In this case, the epithet refers to the color.
Synonyms:  
Common name(s):  Reddish-brown crust.
Phylum:   Basidiomycota
Order:   Hymenochaetales
Family:   Hymenochaetaceae
Occurrence on wood substrate:  Saprobic; forming
overlapping clusters of stalk-less caps on decaying
hardwoods; year-round. 
Dimensions:  Caps are 1-2 cm wide, 6-10 mm long, and
capable of fusing into effused-reflexed sheets 20-30 cm or
more long.   
Description: This effused-reflexed species forms
spreading crusts with small shelf-like, stalkless,
overlapping caps. The upper, sterile cap surfaces are
brownish, hairy to smooth, and concentrically zoned. The
lower, fertile cap surfaces and the effused areas are
brown, smooth to minutely cracked, and covered with
numerous dark brown setae (spines) which can be seen
with a hand lens.       
Edibility: Inedible.   
Comments: Bessette recognizes this species as a species
complex which includes H. badio-ferruginea (Mont.)
Lev., a species recognized as distinct by some authors. 


Figure 1.  Occurrence of reddish-brown crust on a
decaying branch.   

Figure 2. Note the flat effused portion composed of laterally
fused basidiocarps and the stalkless, shelflike, overlapping
reflexed caps.

Figure 3. These conical setae cover the fertile surface in great
numbers. They are quite visible with a 15X or 20X hand lens.