Cerioporus squamosus

The species was first described scientifically by British botanist William Hudson in 1778, who named it Boletus squamosus. It was given its current name in 1886 by Lucien Quélet but is still widely known by the Elias Magnus Fries name Polyporus squamosus.

Squamosus comes from the Latin squamosus meaning covered with scales or scaly, referring to the signature dark brown scales found on the mushroom's cap.

The name "dryad's saddle" refers to creatures in Greek mythology called dryads who could conceivably sit and rest on this mushroom, whereas the pheasant's back analogy derives from the pattern of colors on the bracket matching that of a pheasant's back.

Dryad's saddle is an annual mushroom commonly found attached to dead logs and stumps or on living hardwood trees at one point with a thick stem. Generally, the fruit body is round and between {{convert|8|–|30|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=off}} across{{Cite book |last=Audubon |title=Mushrooms of North America |publisher=Knopf |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-593-31998-7 |pages=265}} – exceptionally {{Convert|60|cm|abbr=on}}{{Cite book |last=Francis-Baker |first=Tiffany |title=Concise Foraging Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-8474-6 |series=The Wildlife Trusts |location=London |pages=123}} – and up to {{convert|10|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} thick. The body can be yellow to brown and has "squamules" or scales on its upper side. On the underside one can see the pores that are characteristic of the genus Cerioporus; they are made up of tubes packed together closely. The tubes are between {{convert|1|and|12|mm|frac=16|abbr=on}} long. The stalk is {{convert|3-12|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long and {{Convert|1.5-3.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}} thick. The mushroom's smell resembles that of watermelon rind.

The fruit body produces a white spore print. The spores are 11–15 x 4–5 μm and are long and smooth ellipsoids. They can be found alone, in clusters of two or three, or forming shelves. Young specimens are soft but toughen with age. It is particularly common on dead elm and is also found on living maple trees.

In Polyporus tuberaster, the cap is rounder and the stipe more central, with the scales only dark at the tip.

This organism is common and widespread, being found east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States (April–October) and over much of Europe (July–November). It is also found in Asia and Australia. It commonly fruits in the spring, occasionally during autumn, and rarely during other seasons. Many mushroom hunters will stumble upon substantially sized mushroom this when looking for morels during the spring as both have similar fruiting times.

The species plays an important role in woodland ecosystems by decomposing wood, usually elm, silver maple, or box elder but is occasionally a parasite on living trees. Other tree hosts include ash, beech, horse chestnut, Persian walnut, lime, maple, planetree, poplar, magnolia, and willow.

The species is edible when young{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=Roger |title=Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America |year=2010 |publisher=Firefly Books |location=Buffalo, NY |isbn=978-1-55407-651-2 |page=298}} and cooked. Specimens can become infested with maggots and become firm, rubbery and inedible as they mature. Cookbooks dealing with preparation generally recommend gathering these while young, slicing them into small pieces and cooking them over a low heat.

Some people value the thick, stiff paper that can be made from this and many other mushrooms of the genus Cerioporus.

File:Polyporus squamosus 01.jpg|Forming "shelves" on the side of a tree

File:Polyporus squamosus 25052006.jpg|Growing on ground

File:Żagiew łuskowata Polyporus squamosus.jpg|Shelf growing on tree

File:Żagiew łuskowata - kapelusz Polyporus squamosus.JPG|Bird's eye view of shelf

File:Dryad's Saddle - pores.jpg|Growing on an elder (Sambucus nigra) in Scotland

File:POLYPORUS SQUAMOSUS (Huds. Fr.) Fr. (5857748241).jpg|Pores

File:Polyporus squamosus secretion.jpg|Secretion

File:Polyporus squamosus seepage.jpg|Close-up of secretion

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite book |title=Flora Anglica |edition=2 |author= Hudson W. |year=1778 |page=626}}

{{cite book |author=Lonsdale D, Butin H. |title=Tree Diseases and Disorders: Causes, Biology, and Control in Forest and Amenity Trees |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford [Oxfordshire] |year=1995 |pages=170–71|isbn=0-19-854932-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p7tVCv2EiTgC&q=Polyporus%20squamosus&pg=PA170 |access-date=2010-05-28}}

{{cite book |author= Barnhart, Robert K. |title=The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology: The Core Vocabulary of Standard English |publisher=H. W. Wilson Company |year=1988 |page=1054|isbn=0-8242-0745-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mFAYAAAAIAAJ |access-date=2021-06-15}}

{{cite book |author=Schmidt O.|title=Wood and Tree Fungi: Biology, Damage, Protection, and Use |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin |year=2006 |page=199 |isbn=3-540-32138-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMXYJaWbO2YC&q=Polyporus%20squamosus&pg=PA199 |access-date=2010-05-28}}

{{cite book |author=Spahr DL. |title=Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms of New England and Eastern Canada |publisher=North Atlantic Books |location=Richmond, Calif |year=2009 |pages=131–35 |isbn=978-1-55643-795-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFZ-lwRXuNYC&q=Polyporus%20squamosus&pg=PA131 |access-date=2010-05-28}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.speciesfungorum.org/Names/SynSpecies.asp?RecordID=163056 |title=Species synonymy for Cerioporus squamosus (Huds.) Fr. |publisher=CAB International |work=Species Fungorum |access-date=2019-09-27}}

{{cite journal|last1=Zmitrovich|first1=Ivan V.|title=Lentinoid and Polyporoid Fungi, Two Generic Conglomerates Containing Important Medicinal Mushrooms in Molecular Perspective|journal=International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms|date=2016|volume=18|issue=1|pages=23–38|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297731892|access-date=25 May 2016|doi=10.1615/intjmedmushrooms.v18.i1.40|pmid=27279442}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.mushroomexpert.com/polyporus_squamosus.html |author=Kuo, Michael |title=Polyporus squamosus |access-date=2021-06-15}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090107031452/http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomdryad.html Mushroom-Collecting.com: Polyporus squamosus – Dryad's Saddle]
• [http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomdryad.html Mushroom-Collecting.com: Dryad's Saddle, Pheasant Back Mushroom, Hawks Wing (Polyporus squamosus)]

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q96934111|from2=Q832812}}

squamosus

Category:Edible fungi

Category:Fungi of Europe

Category:Fungi of North America

Category:Taxa named by William Hudson (botanist)

Category:Fungus species