Reishi ? Maybe not?

I found this shelf fungus on a hardwood stump. It has a clearly varnished stalk, but lacks the red tones I am used to seeing in reishi. It does have growth rings and melanitic lines, which are helpful and suggest it is some ganoderma but it’s not prototypical. The lacquered nature of the cap is not super shiny. An older one from the same stump is rust colored but less shiny. Any ideas?

Here is the older specimen

I have no clue what it is, but I would be interested to know the answer if you do figure it out. I'd agree that it does appear to be a species of Ganoderma.

It is Reishi. Reishi has a complicated taxonomy and besides this if you're thinking about the fungus development stages or how the environmental factors act on its development -the lack of the lacquered crust on top is explainable.

Is this reishi? I am a new forager and believe it is, but wanted to ask to be sure. I found it in the beautiful NC mountains growing in hemlock.
I want to cut and dry it but am concerned about it being spoiled due to the brown underside.
I just joined this community and am excited as I am very much a prepper and survivalist!

It certainly looks like it but I’ve been fooled before. We occasionally drive over to Lake Norman state park for mushroom hunts. Maybe that’s not too far for you to check out. They have a couple professionals there that will ID what you find on your walk. I’ve taken some from my property as well. I was wrong on the reishi.

I didn’t notice you were new here on Permies. Welcome! You can find most of the answers you seek and a lot more you never knew you needed! I hope someone can help you with this one. Scott

I'd like to see more white/lighter coloration on the edges and a lighter underside to say for sure. They also look a bit thicker and one is bigger than I'm used to for reishi, maybe even missing the defined "stripes."

Mushroom ID is a hard game to play with shelf fungus like this, especially not in person. I would vote no on the side of caution.

Regional differences do come into play, and NC reishi could look different than the ones I see in Missouri. I'll be curious how others vote and throw this post a flag to get more eyes on it.  

Thanks for that info Matt. I’m headed up to the mountains on a trout fishing/get the heck off the farm trip soon.

Thanks for any help! Here is a better couple of pictures of it growing on the fallen hemlock tree.
You’ll notice my dog Raven standing next to them
Also in the other picture you will see them next to the turkey tail and chaga I found. Hopefully these pictures will provide better clarity.