Here is a range of turkey tail and false turkey tail for this #mushroommonday that I've observed from last year.
I'll start out with the coolest example. This one has an amazing violet edge hue to it. I found them growing up in the north woods of Wisconsin in a dark humid forest. Who knows why it manifests this color. Maybe the violet is the result of the specific kind of tree chemicals it is eating...
Many of the turkey tails I find look like this, a dark brown with a white edge. It creates a tricky pattern for the eye but doesn't quite have the amazing color as many other turkey tail.
Here is a smaller patch of the brown turkey tail. When it grows on a flat surface it tends to grow like a flower bouquet.
Here is a flower bouquet configuration growing out of an underground root.
Another bouquet this time growing out of a stump. This is a very light colored example of turkey tail, some are a really light beige to white color that eventually gets invaded by green algae/moss.
Here are some beige ones that are really taken over by green algae or possibly a green lichen of some kind.
Look at how infested this fallen tree is with white turkey tail. As it gets older all these will probably turn green with lichens.
This is an example of white turkey tail. You can see the green starting to grow off of it already.
Plenty of false turkey tail can be found near true turkey tail. See how these one's edges turn up and appear thinner than the more flat and thicker turkey tail.
False turkey tail has almost as many colors as true turkey tail. The main useful difference between the two is that turkey tail has medicinal value while false turkey tail has no known medicinal qualities. So if you accidentally harvest false turkey tail it will just be a placebo, it is not toxic but also has no anticancer properties or vitamin d in it.
One day I'll have to do a mega post showing all the wide colors that I've found in trametes versacolor (turkey tail). Happy #mushroommonday
