Tinder Conk

I spotted many of these mushrooms growing on birch snags. Most of the fruiting bodies were 5-15cm wide. Shapes ranged and included amorphic, horse-hooved, and fan-shaped. They had broad, concentric ridges and a very bumpy uppersurface. The underside had circular, cream to tan colored pores.

This species is well known for its helpfulness in making fire by using the amadou, which is the spongy inner part of the fungus that makes an amazing tinder. In order to get the amadou, the fungus must first be removed from the tree, the hard outer layer scraped off, and then thin strips of the inner spongy layer cut for use as tinder.