Crimped gill or Splitgill

Thin fans, shells or kidneys 1 to 2 cm across, up to 3 cm, attached at the side or at one narrow point, in dense overlapping tiers; neighbours often fuse. On the top of branches it can form rosettes.

The upper surface is finely felty or velvety, zoned in tawny orange, orange-brown and yellow-brown, with a pale or white wavy edge that's often rolled under. Young ones are whitish and turn browner with age.

The fruiting body is small, 1-4 cm across, fan- or shell-shaped, almost spherical when young. It's attached to the wood by its side or back, with no stem. The upper surface is grey to greyish white and densely covered in short hairs, so it looks like felt or fur. The margin is wavy and often cut into lobes. When dry, the fruiting body curls inward, rolling its margin over the gills to protect itself from losing moisture.

There are no gills or pores. The underside is pale, dirty white, greyish or tinged blue-grey or greenish, wrinkled into radial, winding, forking folds like crimped pastry.

The spores are tiny and sausage-shaped.

Unique "pseudo-gills": the gills are split lengthwise along the edge. Under a microscope you can see they aren't true gills but folds of the hymenophore with a characteristic split. They're greyish white to greyish violet. Spore print white. The split gill edges are the key diagnostic feature of the genus.

There's no stem, or only a trace: it's attached to the wood at the side or at one narrow point.

No stem. The fruiting body sits directly on the wood, attached by its side or back edge (sessile attachment).

The flesh is thin, soft and pliant when fresh and brittle when dry.

The flesh is very thin, leathery, tough, cardboard-like and greyish white. It doesn't change colour when cut. It isn't eaten in the European tradition: it's too tough and stays rubbery even after long boiling. The smell is faint, with nothing distinctive.

The smell is indistinct.

Faint and neutral, nothing distinctive.