Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)

Chicken of the Woods

Chicken of the Woods is so appropriately named. It grows primarily on oaks, but has also been found growing on a number of other trees, and has a fibrous structure which has been likened to both chicken meat and mellow cheese.

Also known as the Sulphur Polypore, it is fleshy, succulent and very edible, particularly when young and fresh when it can be grilled or used as cutlets. More mature specimens are said to be excellent for soups, stews and pickling.

A bracket fungus with often huge, thick, fleshy sulphur–yellow, overlapping fan-shaped plates, it is one of the most distinctive, readily recognisable fungi, particularly at night when it seemingly emits a bright, phosphorescent light. (The plates can grow to an astonishing 40 centimetres across).

Chicken of the Woods is relatively common and widespread in the New Forest and can be found in both summer and autumn.

Warning: refer to a good, comprehensive fungus field guide to confirm identification, and only eat those species known without any doubt whatsoever to be edible - people have died after eating certain poisonous specimens.

References:
Mushrooms and other Fungi of Great Britain and Europe - Roger Phillips
The Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-western Europe - Marcel Bon
Fungi of Britain and Europe - Stefan Buczacki and John Wilkinson
The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Mushrooms and Toadstools - Giovanni Pacioni
Fungi of the New Forest: A Mycota - Edited by Gordon Dickson and Ann Leonard
A Passion for Mushrooms - Antonio Carluccio