Plant/fungi id help

[bindlestitch]

Howdy again.
I'm wondering if any of you guys can help with some id's. I'm sorely lacking in this skill so I'll take all the help I can get.
First up, some kind of bracket fungi.
Here's what it looks like growing on the tree.

Here's what it looks like cut open.

Any idea on the uses of this one? Knife strop? Tinder usage?

Next up is a plant that I see all the time and have no clue what it is. It's probably something obvious that any green horn should know but....I don't.

Here's what it looks like in a stand.

Here's what the berries look like close up.

Here's the berry clusters.

Here's the new leaf growth.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Later,
Iz

 

[akennedy73]

The fungus is a polypore - hard to tell what kind from the photo though:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polypore

 

[dipbait]

The mushroom appears to be a dried Oyster mushroom. Edible and delicious. They are sold at grocery stores at a steep price. They are fresh in the fall. This one is hard and inedible. They grow on the same trees year after year.

 

[bindlestitch]

Awesome guys! I see those things all the time and never new what they were.
Thanks,
Iz

 

[mete]

The mushroom has been called shelf mushroom .I used to collect them for a woman who used them as a canvas to paint pictures !

 

[bindlestitch]

Mete,
Ha! That's a pretty cool idea....although I can't paint anything you would recognize.
Later,
Iz

 

[bindlestitch]

In case anyone is interested, I found out what the plant is.
It's Symphoricarpos orbiculatus. Common name around here is Buck Brush.
Info link
One site listed it as a source of Native American cordage.
Later,
Iz