Tinder Fungus (Hoof Fungus)

Fomes fomentarius

On dead deciduous trees. Spring, summer, autumn (winter).

A perennial fungus. Fruiting bodies hoof- or fan-shaped, up to 30 cm across, attached to the tree trunk by the side, hard, woody, surface leathery, smooth, whitish-grey, blackish-grey, greyish-brownish, zoned, the margins of paler shades. Flesh hard, corky, brown. Grows in deciduous and mixed forests and parks on dead deciduous trees, most often on birches (sometimes there are 10–20 fruiting bodies on a windfall or snag). Causes a white rot of the wood. Very common. In folk medicine, powder of the willow bracket and the tinder fungus was used to stop bleeding and to treat wounds.