The Sulphur Shelf is the chicken of the woods. A mushroom that tastes like poultry. The fruiting body is a large bracket. It measures ten to thirty centimetres across. The colour is bright yellow to orange-yellow. It grows in overlapping shelves on the trunk of a tree. It looks like a cluster of golden pancakes. It looks like a pile of sunny shelves. It is a splash of colour in the green and brown of the forest. A mushroom that looks like food. The visual appeal is high. The culinary potential is real. The upper surface is smooth and brightly coloured. It fades to pale yellow with age. The underside is covered in tiny pores. These are yellow to cream. The flesh is soft and moist when young. It feels like a firm mushroom. It has a strong, earthy smell. The scent is distinct. The texture is inviting. The appearance is deceptive. It is not a plant. It is a fungus. Biologically, the Sulphur Shelf is both a parasite and a saprotroph. It grows on the trunks of living trees. It enters through wounds in the bark. It slowly rots the heartwood from the inside out. This process can kill a tree over many years. But it is also a valuable decomposer. It turns dead wood into soil. The duality is complex. It destroys to create. It kills to feed. The balance is natural. The outcome is inevitable. The Sulphur Shelf is edible. It is famous for its taste. When young and fresh, the flesh has a texture and flavour remarkably similar to chicken or crab. It is a prized edible mushroom in Europe and North America. There it is known as 'chicken of the woods'. In New Zealand, it is rare. But it is worth seeking out. The rarity adds value. The taste confirms it. The search is rewarding. The meal is memorable. To find a Sulphur Shelf is to find a delicious surprise on a tree trunk. The tree trunk is old. The sulphur shelf grows, golden pancakes stacked on the bark. It is young. It is soft. It tastes like chicken. The forager picks it. The forager eats it. The mushroom does not know it is delicious. It does not know it is rare. It just wanted to rot the tree. The urban forest is a pantry. The sulphur shelf proves it. The brackets are large. The colour is vibrant. The location is accessible. Urban parks and gardens host it. Introduced broadleaf trees support it. The fungus adapts. It thrives in modified environments. It does not require deep wilderness. It requires decaying wood. It finds it in the city. It feeds on the oak. It feeds on the willow. It provides a meal. It completes a cycle. And that seems to be enough.