Honey fungus was until recently thought to be a single species, but it’s now been found there are a handful of closely related species. This may be an explanation for the variability of appearance (some of which is seen in these pictures) and in habitat.
All types live on wood: some only on dead wood. Others live on trees, including some of the economically important ones. These destroy the roots of the roots of the trees they are parasiting, eventually killing the host.
The underground structures of honey fungus may form a single organism for an entire wood or forest. The largest known single organism alive on earth today is a north American honey fungus spread over more than three square miles and thousands of years old.
The fruiting bodies are common. They usually grow in clusters, found on the base or top surface of stumps or on fallen or felled trunks. On living trees they are usually (but not always) low down.