Formerly placed in the genus Polyporus, this species was moved into Cerioporus in 2016.

[1] The cap is convex when young, and soon flattens out into a mostly irregular shape.

It is red-brown when young, yellowish grey when old and usually about 2–5 cm in diameter.

The stem is light yellowish brown often with a black base.

There are two other polypores with a black stem at the base, Polyporus badius with a shiny red-brown to purple-black cap which can grow up to 20 cm across, and the dark brown, velvety Polyporus melanopus, which grows up to 10 cm across and can be found on dead wood.