Tinder fungus
Fomes fomentarius · 木蹄层孔菌
Common多孔菌科❓ Inedible
Non-toxic, but woody or intensely bitter in texture — not eaten as food.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Hoof-shaped, grayish brown with concentric zones
- Woody in texture, perennial, adding one layer each year
- Grows on living or dead birch and beech
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 多孔菌科
- Hymenium
- Pores
- Grows On
- Wood
- How Big
- 5–30 cm (overall size)
- Encounter Rate
- Common
- Habitat
- Trunks of birch and beech
Easily Confused With
Red-belted conkHoof-shaped, upper surface blackish gray with a reddish brown marginal band
Artist's conkFlat and semicircular, upper surface grayish brown with concentric zones
Birch polyporeSemicircular, upper surface grayish white to pale brown, smooth with no zonesFun Fact
Otzi the Iceman, who lived 5,300 years ago, carried this fungus with him; its processed flesh could hold a smoldering ember — one of the oldest known pieces of evidence for humans using fungi.