Laetiporus sulphureus
Laetiporus is a genus of edible polypores growing throughout much of the world. It has been sighted on dead wood near Barrington Tops National Park. Also known as the sulfur or sulphur shelf, chicken of the woods, the chicken mushroom, and the chicken fungus. It is an edible mushroom overseas when young (to test: it can be easily peireced with a knife) with a taste similar to lemony chicken. Individual shelves usually range from 2-10 inches across. These shelves are made up of many tiny tubular filaments (hyphae). The fungi grows in large brackets - some have been found that weigh more than 45kg. It is most commonly found on wounds of trees.
Young mushrooms are characterized by a moist, rubbery, sulphur-yellow body with bright orange tips. Older mushrooms become pale and brittle, pungent, and are often have insect damage.
Overseas sites report the fungi is edible. The mushroom can be prepared in most ways that one can prepare chicken meat.
However, a small percentage of people can have an allergic reaction when ingesting it. It can causes mild reactions in some, for example, swollen lips or in rare cases nausea, vomiting, dizziness and disorientation.
This is believed to be due to a number of factors that range from very bad allergies to the mushroom's protein, to toxins absorbed by the mushroom from the wood it grows on (for example, Eucalyptus or Cedar), to simply eating specimens that have decayed past their prime.
As such, Australian specimens, which we have only found growing on Eucalyptus, should be approached with extreme caution.
- Laetiporus sulphureus, Upper Allyn, NSW Australia. This bracket was 100 cms (not a typo) across growing on a hardwood lo
- Laetiporus sulphureus, sometimes called Grifola sulpurea or Polyporus sulphureus. On dead tree stump, Swains Gardens Kil
