Ganoderma applanatum is a type of shelf fungus species commonly known as artist’s bracket or artist’s conk. It has a huge and very hard fruiting body which is suitable to use as a canvas for drawing. The dark brown tissue under the pores will appear when its fresh white pore surface is wounded or scratched with a sharp implement which results in visible lines. These lines will become permanent once the fungus is dried (Izzauddin et al., 2019).

This fungus is a wood-decay fungus, producing a white to straw-coloured rot of sapwood and heartwood in a variety of trees. It can grow solitary or in groups on decaying hardwood logs and stumps, or from the wounds of injured living trees. It is common and widely distributed in North America.