Good question - I don't think they're damaging to the host, but it is hard to find good info
You'll have more luck checking Trichaptum - I've never found them on Trametes yet. There's also a similar looking species, Gliocladium polyporicola, which grows on Stereum hirsutum, so may as well check all the small shelf fungi!
Phaeocalicium polyporaeum is a tiny mycoparasitic fungus, seen here on its most common host, Trichaptum cf biforme, although it has also been reported on Trametes versicolor.
PA has "Altoona style" and "Old Forge style", both hailing from miserable coal bust towns and consisting more or less of a slice of american "cheese" and red sauce on a sheet crust, I think one has a green pepper under it.
Jersey maybe? Idk. It feels like an Italian American thing, despite it being something Italian Americans would hate if anyone else had come up with it
Nice to see the real thing! Lots of people recently down south here in the states posting Verbesina and similar "frost flowers" producing plants during the freeze
Nice! They're fun to toss in soups or make gummies
Pezizales, at least haha Ascomycetes, especially cups, terrify me. There are so many that look macroscopically identical
Check Apioperdon pyriforme 🍄
A big ol' Pseudoinonotus dryadeus aka "oak bracket". These fruit bodies can overwinter and last multiple years! This one was about 2ft across
Why are there so many "webcomics" that look exactly like this? AI generated?
Your ID is correct. Maybe don't eat stuff if you only "think" you know it though haha
Compare to Pleurotus, growing from buried wood. The ones to rule out here would be the worrisome Clitocybe dealbata group
I see no more need to announce I don't believe in the Christian god than there I see need to announce I don't believe in Zeus. Both questions are completely irrelevant to my life