ID help, please?

From the top, it looks very 'pearl oysteresque'. But, underneath, tiny pores - and blown up, the pic shows almost... hairs?

You might have a member of the Tyromyces genus, a group of polypore fungi  that are described as shelflike or bracket-shaped; have a cheesy, fleshy texture when fresh; and the underside has pores instead of gills. This is an "artificial" genus that contains a bunch of species that look similar, but DNA studies reveal that some species  aren't that closely related to each other. The spore print should be white or bluish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyromyces

Tyromyces chioneus, the White Cheese Polypore, is about the closest to your sample that I could find.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyromyces_chioneus

Polyporus umbellatus(Umbrella Polypore)?
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/polyporus_umbellatus.html

I'm kinda leaning in the direction of Berkeley, or Honey mushroom. It's definitely a polypore, is growing on a very low, long-dead oak stump, Ozarks, 6b growing zone... Bryant Redhawk, I can't help feeling like you'd know what it is, if you're out there. I'd live to know asap, so I don't waste potential food, going into what looks like it has to potential to be a very tumultuous winter.

Is it dry and tough? If it is, it could be a very old chicken of the woods. Maybe.

Carla, I think you might be right. Here is the entry for Berkeley's Polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi) on Mushroomexpert:

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/bondarzewia_berkeleyi.html

Some of the photos look pretty close to what you have. See what you think. I've seen the western version of this mushroom (Bondarzewia montana) at the base of old-growth conifers in Oregon. They can get quite large.

oh, I hope it's the berkeley's polypore!

I don't remember if you are a 'no facebook' person but there is a wonderful 'Arkansas Mushroom and Fungi' group.  The admin. is the expert and only allows ID questions...no deviation into edibility or how to cook or you are punished  ...seriously.

I think you could post there being in the Ozarks? I was in the Missouri group for awhile but the ID's were kind of iffy.

Ken W Wilson wrote:Is it dry and tough? If it is, it could be a very old chicken of the woods. Maybe.

It's fairly fresh. John discovered it on one of his morning walks with the big dog, and he's pretty observant. He'd have noticed, if it had been there, long.

M.K. Dorje Sr. wrote:Carla, I think you might be right. Here is the entry for Berkeley's Polypore (Bondarzewia berkeleyi) on Mushroomexpert:

https://www.mushroomexpert.com/bondarzewia_berkeleyi.html

Some of the photos look pretty close to what you have. See what you think. I've seen the western version of this mushroom (Bondarzewia montana) at the base of old-growth conifers in Oregon. They can get quite large.

THANK YOU!!! W00t!!! After reading this, and comparing their notes to mine, I'm 99.9% sure it's Berkley. (Berkeley?  Crud. Don't know, or care, at this point,  as long as the ID is right, lol)

Judith Browning wrote:oh, I hope it's the berkeley's polypore!

I don't remember if you are a 'no facebook' person but there is a wonderful 'Arkansas Mushroom and Fungi' group.  The admin. is the expert and only allows ID questions...no deviation into edibility or how to cook or you are punished  ...seriously.

I think you could post there being in the Ozarks? I was in the Missouri group for awhile but the ID's were kind of iffy.

I belong to a few different foraging groups, on fb, including 2 different ones that are 'all edible', on national & local levels - but not the Arkansas one. Thanks for the tip! I think the one I left a few months ago was the MO one, for exactly that reason. I'm also looking in the MO Conservation site, as it's supposed to be one of the best. But, I'm new enough at this, that I feel the need to double, triple, quadruple, and quintuple check, before eating anything, lol.