A tough, orange-brown bracket fungus with a zoned, leathery cap and distinctive lamellae or lamellate folds on the underside. A common brown-rot species found on dead conifer timber, fence posts, and sawn construction wood. The only member of the Gloeophyllum genus recorded in New Zealand.

Fruitbody: Annual to short-lived perennial, forming tough, leathery brackets or effused-reflexed crusts. The cap is orange-brown to dark chestnut, often with distinct concentric zoning and a velvety to fibrillose surface when young, becoming smoother with age. The margin is rounded, sometimes paler or slightly wavy.
Hymenophore: The underside is lamellate – a key diagnostic feature. Lamellae are rusty brown, coarse, and irregular, sometimes forked or anastomosing, extending from the base of the bracket. This lamellate structure separates Gloeophyllum from most other brown-rot bracket fungi.
Context: Tough, corky, orange-brown to dark brown.
Odour/taste: Odour mild to indistinct.