A wood-rotting fungus that grows in dead fallen and standing hardwood, especially oak. Mushroom small, leathery, semicircular to funnel-shaped, about 3/4 inches wide, projects sideways from branches, logs, and stumps, and may fuse together, side by side. Sometimes it can grow on the undersuface of the wood, with just the lower surface visible -- a growth form described as resupinate. Or it may be resupinate in part and projecting outward at the edges. .Upper surface with concentric, hairy zones of orange and orange brown. May also have hints of green due to a microscopic alga that lives harmlessly on top. Undersurface, from which spores are released, orange, smooth. Persists year-round.

Very common on fallen and standing dead wood, in all the forested areas.

Resembles turkey tails (Trametes versicolor), but that species has pores on the undersurface. False turkey tails (S. ostrea) is larger, 2 to 3 inches, and has more colors and less orange. Silky parchment (S. striatum) is less colorful, white to buff, and grows on the undersides of twigs and branches.  However, all three species of Stereum tend to blend together, and are not easy to tell apart. Some mycologists consider them varieties of one species.