Distribution: It occurs throughout the western mountains, and also has been reported occasionally from the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada

Habitat: common high-mountain fungus in spring and summer, fruiting on conifer logs, especially those of spruce, and occasionally on aspen

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Its flesh is very light and papery, and it usually forms a mass of pores on the wood surface rather than a bracket-like fruitbody. P. fulgens (Fries) Donk is very similar in appearance, substrate, and distribution, but has smaller pores (0.3--0.5 vs. 1--3 mm), ellipsoid rather than cylindric spores, and less of a tendency for a portion of the fruitbody to lift away from the substrate.