Mushroom on tree

[Bowguy]

A week or so ago I was out running some dogs. I often don’t bring my phone when doing so. Because of this I have no pictures. I’m not asking for anything definitive but there was this tree piece  w giant mushrooms on it. 

They had no gills, the underside had tiny tubes, they were ivory w brown staining. . It was dark brownish on top and prob the biggest cap n stem type mushroom I’d ever seen. Actually there were a bunch. They were growing on a long dead tree. They were close but had separate  stems. The tree had pretty much no bark if I remember right and no mushrooms on ground. 

Its only a few hundred yards from my place. They were shriveled so obviously past prime. We’ve had a crazy wet summer. I don’t think only the moisture content could be the contributing factor.

ive looked in some guides but nothing is even close. Where would I look to get an idea what it was? Just the shear size has to narrow it down. I’m guessing near 5”. 

Im not asking for a absolute id, just where to start a research? 

[Howard]

On 12/19/2018 at 5:20 PM, Bowguy said:

They had no gills, the underside had tiny tubes, they were ivory w brown staining. . It was dark brownish on top and prob the biggest cap n stem type mushroom I’d ever seen. Actually there were a bunch. They were growing on a long dead tree. They were close but had separate  stems.

Hey Bowguy, I just saw this old post. I was wondering if your large brown polypores could be Polyporus badius. They do seem to take over decorticated dead wood.

[Bowguy]

Man I’m sorry,  I don’t remember the mushroom too well anymore