I found this fungus on a fallen tree. I would like to know what it's name is so I can find out if it was the cause of the death of the tree or not. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33138&stc=1&d=1200810866
If you still have access to the tree, can you get a closer shot of the underside of the cap? It looks like a shelving polypore with a white topside and buff coloured underside, but hard to tell without a closer shot. Does the underside have pores or gills? Also useful to know what kind of tree, or hardwood or conifer?
Alright I went back out and pulled a few off. The two on the left show the bottom part (the side that faces the ground if the tree was still standing up). The two on the right show the top sides. I tried to get the camera to focus better...seems to be doing a find job on the mouse and surge protector. Definitely a hardwood tree. http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=33139&d=1200819384
I wonder if they might be old, rotten specimens of Sulphur Shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus)--they bleach-out around here like the ones in your photo. They look too big to be a species of Stereum or any Trametes I've seen, and too ragged to be a species of Tyromyces, but I am likely to be incorrect...
Well...now that I see gills in your second post--forget everything I previously posted. Perhaps you could look up Split Gill (Schizophyllum commune)... Maybe old Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus)?
The gill colour suggests the spore colour of a Crepidotus. The Crepidotuses (Crepidoti?) I've seen so far in my area are a bit flabbier looking than this, but your area would have different possible fungi anyways: Does googling Crepidotus show you anything familiar?.
I am convinced that what I've gathered is a bunch of dead Schizophyllum commune. It most closely resembles these in pictures, and is found in our area - thanks everyone!
