Turkey tail old specimen?

Can you identify this as Turkey Tail? This is an old dry mushroom form last year growing under the porch.

and this smaller one:

It's a Ganoderma species. Closely related to Reishi, and with very similar medicinal effects.

Thanks, Is it edible? Is it used for tea? Should it be harvested fresh? Can it be dried?

This one is growing on a stump, I cut the Fir down while building the house.

Not really edible, has the consistency of shoe leather. Can be dried and can be used to make tea fresh or dried. Will dry quicker if cut/torn into small strips and if low dry heat is applied (low setting on food dehydrator, low setting on oven) - high heat will dry the outside, sealing moisture in the interior.

Tea is supposed to be good for many things including allergies. I tried drinking it daily but found it gave me insomnia. (Much like how ginseng root affects me.)

Avoid using anything that looks old, decayed, rotten, moldy, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingzhi_mushroom

The fruiting body, when growing, is hard. It had to be taken off the stump with a shovel an matix.

Yes, that is typical of the larger specimens. The bigger and thicker it is, the woodier it gets. Smaller, younger pieces are still as tough as leather. To cut it up you will probably need a saw.

Some people keep them whole and "draw" on the bottom pore surface:

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/artists_conk.htm

This was taken off the stump so we could get into the paint locker. We cut it up with meat snips.

Thankyou for the ID. You got it spot on!

Hello Richard, Franklin is definitely correct, that is most certainly Ganoderma applanatum, also known as the artist's conk or the ancient ling chih. I have been harvesting this species from the wild and drinking a tea from this mushroom (as well as Ganoderma oregonense) every morning for about the past 20 years. This tea is delicious and has many strong health and even spiritual benefits. The Taoist sages of ancient China believed that the Ganoderma mushrooms were sacred and that drinking the tea from them would lead to an extremely long life free from illness. (BTW, I almost never get colds or the flu, and I spend zero money on doctors or pharmaceuticals.) However, I avoid drying the mushrooms inside my house because I seem to have an allergic reaction to inhaling the spores. I usually try to harvest these mushrooms during the summer so I can dry them outside in the sun. If I harvest them during a wet spell, I put my mushroom dryer out on the porch. Keep in mind that these mushrooms also can cause a type of dry rot fungus, which can rot out your house. This is a great species to have growing NEAR your house, but NOT underneath (or ON) your house!

Turkey tails are much smaller and thinner...
Could be in the Ganoderma family, yet not Ganoderma Lucidum... possibly Ganoderma Applanatum or a Fomitopsis

what kind of wood was it growing on>?

Greeting, I am pleased to have this mushroom identified. I am very interested in any and all health benefits. Spritual benefits I receive from the Lord.
I did prepare some tea, taking a very small amount, last night I experienced insomnia and a slight head ache, that persists this morning. This may be unrelated, however I will not continue until I have relief.
As to the rot, I hope all that is nessary for that is not present. I did suspect the spores might be a problem and my darling removed it to the out doors.
You might be interested to know, our youngest, who is studying and growing edible mushrooms, has found growing: Chicken of the Woods, on a tree some 200ft in the woods above our house. Unfourtunatley and alert Woodpecket has eaten it before we could return with a wire basket to protect the find. Thankyou for sharing the information, please, keep it up.

Richard

Interesting, so you tried it!
I have in mind two species for this mushroom: Ganoderma applanatum or G. adspersum. Probably is the first one. G. applanatum is medicinal but not the other. Concerning the head ache I think the cause was something else

The color is too uniform for TT, in my opinion. Undersurface appears smooth rather than with the tiny pores that TT should have. Also, specimen should be thin and pliable, and this looks as if it may be thick.

the turkey tails that grow where im at in the east are usually 3" to maybe 4" wide at the most and as stated earlier are very thin, maybe 1/8" when growing and full of moisture.
and the color and figuring is very very close to what a wild turkey feather looks like with brown, grey and black, and some I have that grew all by themselves in very moist areas of forest get green algae growing on them.