Upholstered Fire Sponge, Elbow Patch Fungus

The cushion-shaped to long-beaded fruiting bodies are about 10 to 40 cm long, 4 to 8 cm wide and 0.5 to 2.5 cm thick, depending on the branch width. They usually grow in the longitudinal direction of the infested branches and trunks. The edge of the substrate is tight and firm, so that the fruiting bodies are difficult to remove. The surface is greyish brown, hazel to russet and the border is thin. A subiculum is usually hardly recognizable and in any case thinner than 1 mm. The tubes sit directly on the substrate and are 1-3 mm long. Up to ten layers of tubes can be on top of each other, usually 3 to 7. The surface of the previous layer is not completely covered by the new one so that the edge separates in color from the rest because the old pores are filled by filling hyphae and then appear gray. Often they are also colored green by algae. The roundish to elongated pores are tiny, per millimeter you will find about 5 to 6 pores. With potassium hydroxide, the meat turns almost black.