Wandering through the back-country of Muskoka, you will undoubtedly find “Bracket Tree Fungus”. It will almost always be on a standing dead tree or on a tree that has died and fallen over. I harvest the fungus and allow it to dry for a year (it dries as hard as wood). I sand out the imperfections and apply Gesso as a base for acrylic paint. Spar varnish seals the exterior and brings out the fantastic colours. Recently I performed wood burning on one and it turned out very cool.
Here is the Wikipedia overview:
Bracket fungi, or shelf fungi, are among the many groups of fungi that comprise the phylum Basidiomycota. Characteristically, they produce shelf- or bracket-shaped or occasionally circular fruiting bodies called conks that lie in a close planar grouping of separate or interconnected horizontal rows. Brackets can range from only a single row of a few caps, to dozens of rows of caps that can weigh several hundred pounds. They are mainly found on trees (living and dead) and coarse woody debris, and may resemble mushrooms. Some form annual fruiting bodies while others are perennial and grow larger year after year. Bracket fungi are typically tough and sturdy and produce their spores, called basidiospores, within the pores that typically make up the under-surface.
Unapotembea-tembea katika eneo la nyuma la Muskoka, bila shaka utapata <unk>Bracket Tree Fungus<unk>. Mara nyingi mti huo huanguka juu ya mti ulio hai au mti ambao umekufa na kuanguka. Mimi hukusanya uyoga huo na kuuacha ukauke kwa mwaka mmoja (unaukauka kwa nguvu kama mbao). Mimi huondoa kasoro hizo na kutumia Gesso kama msingi wa rangi ya akriliki. Varnish ya spar hufunga sehemu ya nje na kuamsha rangi zenye kupendeza. Hivi majuzi nilifanya kuchoma mbao kwenye moja na ilionekana kuwa nzuri sana. Fungi ya shelf (kwa Kiingereza: Shelf fungi) ni moja ya makundi ya kuvu ya jamii ya Basidiomycota. Kwa kawaida, wao kuzalisha rafu au bracket-umbo au mara kwa mara mviringo matunda miili aitwaye conks kwamba uongo katika karibu planar makundi ya safu tofauti au interconnected usawa. Vifuniko vyaweza kutofautiana kutoka safu moja tu ya kofia chache, hadi miongo ya kofia ambazo zinaweza kupima pauni mia kadhaa. Wao hupatikana hasa kwenye miti (ya hai na iliyokufa) na mabaki makali ya mbao, na yanaweza kufanana na uyoga. Baadhi yao huzaana matunda kila mwaka huku wengine wakizaa kwa miaka mingi na kukua kwa ukubwa zaidi mwaka baada ya mwaka. Fungi ya Bracket ni ngumu na imara na hutengeneza spora zao, zinazoitwa basidiospores, ndani ya pores ambazo kwa kawaida huunda chini ya uso.