Hoof Fungus

not listed

not listed

not listed

Hoof Fungus fruiting body (conk) is a 2″ to 8″ wide, ¾″ to 4¾″ thick polypore.

The fruiting body is hoof-shaped, rounded and curved downward on top, flat or slightly angled upward below. There is no stalk.

The upper surface is concentrically zoned and hairy when young. The zones are grooved and vary in color in shades of gray and brownish-gray. It soon becomes gray and hairless. The margin is whitish and velvety on actively growing conks.

The underside is whitish. The pore tubes are not layered (stratified).

The flesh is hard and cinnamon brown. When cut in cross section there are no white lines (mycelial threads) visible.

An individual conk can survive for years, even decades, forming a new ridge or furrow each year. It is found on standing or fallen dead trees or on the trunk of a living tree.

Willow Bracket (Phellinus igniarius) old conks are black and often cracked above. The margin and undersurface are light brown and velvety on actively growing conks. The pores are stratified. The flesh in cross section shows white mycelial threads.

Usually birch, but also other hardwoods

Hoof Fungus causes white trunk rot on hardwood trees. It turns the wood into a soft, white, spongy mass.

Year-round but grows mostly in early summer and autumn

Another common name for Hoof Fungus is Tinder Polypore, from its most common usage, as tinder for starting fires. Otzi the Iceman, the 5,000-year-old mummy found in the Alps in 1991, was carrying four pieces of it.

Sources

4, 7, 24, 26, 29, 30, 77.

Very common and widespread

Found on birch snag

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Location: Cass County

Found on birch snag

Location: Afton State Park, Southern River Trail