Chicken of the Woods: A Remarkable Mushroom

I am told that besides tasting rather like lemony chicken with a great deal of protein, chicken of the woods also has many health benefits. Although hard to miss and relatively easy to identify, as with all mushrooms growing in the wild, it is best to seek expert guidance on which are safe to eat and to prepare them carefully. Certain people are allergic to chicken of the woods and other mushrooms, so care is needed when eating them for the first time.

With so little rain last summer, I did not expect an abundance of amazing mushrooms like last fall. I was lucky to come across this colorful cluster the day before it was taken by eager foragers.

The central protrusion below evolved before someone cut it and it dried out.

And finally, the now fallen tree that this fungus had been feeding on as in appeared in October 2025: