Donna I email some authority on it and got this responce:
Dear Mr. Carruba,
The organism is an unlichenized fungus, not a lichen. It looks like it's a "bracket fungus," perhaps in the Polyporaceae. I don't recognize it myself. I hope that helps.
Sincerely, Irwin Brodo
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Carruba [mailto:ccarruba@verizon.net]
Sent: Sunday, January 09, 2005 9:14 PM
To: ibrodo@mus-nature.ca
Subject: lichen
Hi Chris, did you get the post about Lou? I have seen this fungus before but I have no real idea what it is...maybe it's a lichen? I know about looking around for people to help with ID's, and you can post a query on the pbase forum with your picture and that will also help... I like your pictures and am curious about where you took this one?