This is, I think, a turkey tail fungus, Trametes versicolor, a relatively common bracket fungus which grows on rotten hardwoods such as oak. It comes in a wide variety of banded colours and shades, though some....
....are less contrastingly layered than others. The fungi in these pictures all came from a pile of oak logs just by Dunrobin Castle which had obviously been sitting there for years but now, sadly, being cut up for firewood.The fungus is described as 'inedible' and 'tough' so it has no benefit for the food forager but it has an amazing reputation as a medicinal fungus, including a wide range of "benefits" such as preventing and treating the common cold, supporting those on chemo, treating the papilloma virus, helping with HIV/AIDS, and aiding digestion - for more details look here.Having read some of the sites which promote this fungus' powers, I'm amazed there's any turkey tail fungi left in the woods.
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