What is this Polypore? I'm stumped...

[Mr.Purcell]

Growing on a Paper birch, Northern Idaho, 2800 ft elevation. I looked through quite few photos on various sites, didn't see anything like it. Anyone know?

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[injun51]

Don't know myself but very interested to find out.

[crunksknunk]

I'm not a mycologist, but it looks like a species of Phellinus fungi. The closest ones I could find are Phellinus lundellii and Phellinus laevigatus which both grow on birch.

From Wikipedia:
"Phellinus is a genus of fungi in the family Hymenochaetaceae. Many species cause white rot. Fruiting bodies, which are found growing on wood, are resupinate, sessile, and perennial. The flesh is tough and woody or cork-like, and brown in color. Clamp connections are absent, and the skeletal hyphae are yellowish-brown.[1]

The name Phellinus means cork.[2]

Phellinus produces the natural phenol hispidin.[3]"

'Resupinate' means it grows flat on the substrate.

[Mr.Purcell]

Thank you crunksknuk. Lundelii looks closer than anything else I looked at.

[riverjoe]

Seems like a lot of the polypores form a symbiotic relationship with certain species of trees . Around here is the horse hoof on Black Locust .We have no White Birch so I don't know too much about them but maybe another approach would be from the parasite direction .