🟤 Dryad's Saddle (Pheasant's Back Fungus) Polyporus squamosus (Cerioporus squamosus)
This is a guide, not a substitute for expert identification. Foraging guides - including this one - can contain errors. If you are not completely certain of an identification, do not eat it. Cross-check against at least two independent sources, and when in doubt, consult a local foraging expert or an experienced forager in person before eating anything wild.
A large, flat, fan-shaped bracket fungus with a distinctive feathered scale pattern and a strong cucumber smell, growing on dead or dying broadleaf wood - no seriously toxic look-alike exists in the UK, but it must be picked young while still tender.
Identification
A large, flat, fan- or kidney-shaped bracket, cream to ochre-buff, covered in concentric rings of flat brown fibrous scales that resemble pheasant feathers (giving it the alternative name 'pheasant's back fungus'). Brackets can reach up to 60-70cm across in old specimens, though it is only worth eating far smaller. It has a short, thick, often off-centre or side-attached stem that typically darkens to black at the base. The underside carries fine cream to white pores, not gills. A distinctive smell, often compared to fresh cucumber, watermelon rind or meal, is a strong field confirmation. It grows singly or in small overlapping groups from wounds, dead branches, stumps or the trunks of dying and dead broadleaf trees, including elder, beech, sycamore and ash.
⚠️ Dangerous look-alikes - read this before picking anything
No seriously toxic look-alike is documented for dryad's saddle in the UK - its size, scaled feather-like cap pattern and distinctive cucumber smell make it one of the more recognisable bracket fungi. The closest similar species is the tuberous polypore (Polyporus tuberaster), generally smaller, with a more central stem, paler cap patterning and a stem base that darkens but does not turn fully black - it is not toxic either, so confusing the two carries no safety risk. The real practical risk with this species is texture rather than toxicity: dryad's saddle toughens quickly as it grows, becoming leathery, corky and effectively inedible within days, so a 'pinch test' or 'knife test' matters before picking - the outer cap margin should cut or pinch away easily with no resistance; if it is tough, rubbery or resists the blade, the specimen is past its edible window and should be left. Pick only small, young brackets, generally under about 6-10cm across.
UK habitat
One of the most common UK bracket fungi, found on dead, dying or wounded broadleaf trees and stumps across the country, including elder, beech, sycamore and ash.
Legal notes
Picking fungi growing wild for personal consumption is not theft under the Theft Act 1968, s4(3), provided it is not for sale, reward or other commercial purpose, and provided you have a right to be on the land. As this fungus fruits on a tree, picking it does not typically involve uprooting a plant under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, s13, but permission is still needed to be on private land, and never cut into or damage the host tree when harvesting. Check local signage on nature reserves, SSSIs and council-owned woodland for foraging restrictions. See the full UK foraging law guide for the general rules.