A couple of days ago, I drove about ninety kilometers north of my hometown, to the small village named Sovinjak. While exploring the fields, orchards, and abandoned old houses on the edge of the village ...

<a href="https://images.ecency.com/DQmSwAN9zJTaAefmWRda92mYov3Vkx8XEFfB58uV2gFRs2M/img_6949_izhoshtrenu.jpg"><img 
src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmSwAN9zJTaAefmWRda92mYov3Vkx8XEFfB58uV2gFRs2M/img_6949_izhoshtrenu.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

... I came across this relatively large, fan-shaped mushroom. It was laying on the drystone wall built who knows when around the remains of some old homestead that was also built in stone, and it looked a bit like one of the lichens that grew on the stone. Unlike the lichens though, the fungus wasn't attached to the surface ...

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src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmUP5dB1bSybtkyjprdYiUrftfzkySqWJ1dqVbsHqUMc6L/img_6948_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

... so I was able to take a look at its underside. That side was covered with gills that formed intricate shapes and made it look like a labyrinth. The area in which the mushroom was cut, was also visible now. Someone has cut the mushroom attached to some other surface and put it on the wall. After taking these two shots ...

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src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmNgR3Jdzpj6D6epc7M7iESqdaz3eVjoydxZkQwmnWL3SJ/img_6951_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

... I noticed another interesting detail nearby. It was stuck between the stones of the wall.

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src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmWR7qoboHnpZEyFX7isa96hRKUAr23Sh8wzr5NLThPX8t/img_6947_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

A piece of wood. And there, growing on the wood, I found three more mushrooms of the same kind. They were all, even the younger ones, dry and hard as wood. 
The name of this species is Daedalea quercina. It grows frequently on various types of oaks, that's the reason for the quercina in its scientific name, but it doesn't grow exclusively on oaks. Sometimes can be found even on living trees, but normally it grows on rotting wood.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmZhsqmFa1DeUFXpucgggoBpZ7GxL8to5Z9mubRFN8E2kz/img_6950_malo.jpg)

The compound quercinol isolated from this fungus has been found to have anti-inflammatory activity ... and some other useful properties. Here you can see two connected, not completely formed fruiting bodies.
I found only this species, and that find was far beyond any expectation. The temperatures are high. The last rain worth mentioning fell two months ago. The environment is far from being mushroom-friendly.

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src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmcwqyHSAFVoEBJGAtfMmj5c5gkP4SSjGpyW2jFegP2r2k/img_6944_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

In this last photograph, you can take a look at the wider setting. The old, abandoned homestead where the mushrooms were found.

The following links will take you to the sites with more information about the protagonists of this post. I found some stuff about them there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalea_quercina
https://www.first-nature.com/fungi/daedalea-quercina.php

AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.