Hairy Curtain Crust

The forecast promised winter sun - but once again all we got was dull grey clouds. I waited and waited in vain, but in the end went for a walk anyway, and this fungus was the brightest thing I found! 

Hairy Curtain Crust Stereum hirsutum is a very common fungus found throughout the world on dead trees and stumps .Stereum, the generic name, means tough, and crust fungi in this genus certainly can be difficult to tear when you want to take a small sample for investigation. The specific epithet hirsutum means hairy (hirsute, indeed!), and the upper surfaces of these irregularly-shaped tiered brackets are distinctly hairy when the fruitbodies are young and fresh; however, they do become smoother with age.

The common name Hairy Curtain Crust reflects (in the 'curtain' part) the rippled form of edges of the fruitbodies, which do look like partly-drawn curtains; however, it's very much more common to see this species growing in the form of tiers of reflexed crusts or brackets, particularly on standing dead wood, than as resupinate crusts, as shown in this image.

This isn't the only fungus on the stump. In the lower right corner there are numerous tiny black and grey jelly fungi.