beaded chestnut vs Clustered Bracket

Agrochola lychnidis compared with Inonotus cuticularis

Key Differences

beaded chestnut is Near Threatened while Clustered Bracket is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	beaded chestnut	Clustered Bracket
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Fungi (Fungi)
Phylum	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)
Class	Insecta (Insects)	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Hymenochaetales (Hymenochaetales)
Family	Noctuidae	Hymenochaetaceae
Genus	Agrochola	Inonotus
Species	Agrochola lychnidis	Inonotus cuticularis

Conservation Status

beaded chestnut

NT — Near Threatened

Clustered Bracket

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	beaded chestnut	Clustered Bracket
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

beaded chestnut

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Clustered Bracket

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Taiwan), Europe (4 countries), and North America (United States). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

beaded chestnut

The Beaded chestnut (Agrochola lychnidis) is a species in the genus Agrochola. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Clustered Bracket

Inonotus cuticularis, the clustered bracket, is a polypore fungus in the family Hymenochaetaceae that grows on living and dead hardwood trees across the northern hemisphere. The fruiting bodies are bracket-shaped, overlapping in tiered clusters, with a yellowish-brown to rusty-brown upper surface that darkens with age, and a pale to golden pore surface beneath. This species causes white heart rot in its host trees, degrading the structural integrity of trunks and major branches. It commonly attacks living oaks, beeches, and other broadleaf trees, as well as occurring on dead wood. Inonotus cuticularis is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, reflecting its association with old-growth and veteran trees that are increasingly rare in managed European and North American landscapes. The decline of old-growth forest and the removal of veteran trees from managed woodlands and parklands has reduced suitable habitat for many bracket fungi. Conservation of ancient and veteran trees is therefore important for maintaining populations of this and many other wood-decay fungi with similar old-growth associations.