It’s a Bird; it’s a Plane; No, It’s the Pheasant’s Back Mushroom!

By: Benjamin Ashpole

If you have ever noticed a big, tan shelf with dark “feather” scales jutting from a maple or elm trunk, you have likely walked right past the Pheasant’s Back mushroom, Cerioporus squamosus. Long dismissed by many foragers as a tough, low-priority mushroom, it has begun to attract attention for its nutritional value, lab-tested compounds, role as an important decomposer in forests, and increasingly noticed presence on city shade trees.

In temperate parts of Europe, Asia, and North America, Pheasant’s Back is a familiar spring and early summer sight on hardwoods, with traditions in parts of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus that include both food and folk-medicine use. Today it sits in the shadow of big commercial species like cultivated oyster and shiitake mushrooms, yet this common local polypore is being studied for compounds similar to those already commercialized from other species.

In the lab, extracts of Cerioporus squamosus show notable antioxidant activity and can inhibit several bacteria. Researchers have also isolated bioactive molecules such as lectins that interact with cancer-cell surface sugars and trigger cell death in vitro, and polysaccharides that modulate immune cells and inflammatory pathways in experimental models. This research has not yet progressed to large human trials.

Locally, foragers focus on very young, tender brackets or the thin outer inch or so of larger caps. While still delicate, thin slices are good for sautés, stir-fries, broths, and dried powders that lend a mild cucumber-mushroom note to soups, gravies, and spice blends. Note that because some people react poorly to even commonly eaten mushrooms, it is wise to cook all mushrooms thoroughly, try only a small portion at first, and avoid any specimen growing from obviously polluted or heavily sprayed trees.

Though possible, this species is rarely grown indoors because it is very easy to find outdoors and reappears for years from the same logs and stumps. As a vigorous white-rot fungus, it helps break down lignin in hardwoods, returning locked-up nutrients to soils. Given its natural vigor, it also is currently under-explored for practical uses like mycoremediation of polluted sites and producing biodegradable, mycelium-based materials for packaging and insulation.

Join The Mushroom Journey

Peak foraging season for Pheasant’s Back tends to run from spring into early summer, but some specimens fruit through the fall. Remember that this article is not a guide to identifying mushrooms and not medical advice. Always buy mushrooms from reputable sources and cook them well. Never eat foraged mushrooms without a qualified human expert confirming the species in person first. To discover more native gourmet, functional, and practical mushroom videos, products, and events, join the free newsletter at NourishCap.com.

Sources Cited

“Cerioporus squamosus.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerioporus_squamosus.

“Pheasant Back Mushroom Nutrition and Health Benefits.” WebMD, www.webmd.com/diet/benefits-of-pheasant-back-mushroom.

Foraging Pheasant Back Mushrooms (Cerioporus squamosus). Practical Self Reliance, practicalselfreliance.com/pheasant-back-mushrooms/.

“Cerioporus squamosus – Dryad’s Saddle.” Fungiwoman, fungiwoman.com/pages/cerioporus-squamosus-dryads-saddle.

Dryad’s Saddle (Cerioporus squamosus). Mushrooms of Nebraska, nebraskamushrooms.org/species/cerioporus-squamosus/.

Heleno, S. A., et al. “Chemical Composition and Bioactive Properties of the Wild Mushroom Cerioporus squamosus.” Food & Function, 2018, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29168866/.

“Traditional Use of Polypores in Georgia (the Caucasus).” Ethnobotany Research and Applications, ethnobotanyjournal.org/index.php/era/article/view/5417.

About the Author

Benjamin Ashpole is a certified forager through the Hoosier Mushroom Society, a mushroom educator, and a media producer. Ben writes a widely syndicated column on North American gourmet and functional fungi to inspire mushroom curiosity. As founder of NourishCap.com, he creates educational videos at youtube.com/@NourishCap that demystify everything from forest foraging and home cultivation to the science behind functional and medicinal species. Drawing on years of field experience and ongoing reporting about global fungal science, to support media production, Ben and his team maintain a marketplace of mushroom product vendors and service providers at NourishCap.com so that everyday people can safely benefit from the hidden fungal world around them. Contact Benjamin if you’d like to know more about a specific mushroom, join a foray, request a presentation, or get help with identification at facebook.com/NourishCap. For identification help via Facebook: share pictures of the mushroom’s top, sides, bottom, and habitat along with the name of the closest city and state.