In Ellsworth Jaegers Excellent book Wildwood Wisdom on page 140 he mentions the Senecas Indians used 'Dried pith of the Elderberry' for tinder. I presume Mr Jaeger means the pith running through Elder wands. Has anyone heard of this or given it a go? Does it need charring first or any other kind of preparation or just drying. Also puffballs are also mentioned as a good tinder after drying and cutting into slices. Also mentioned are 'Rotten Maple and dried Beech rot' Pioneers and Indians apparently used the dried 'Star mushroom' as tinder too. Any funghi buffs know if this grows in the UK and given it a go.
I'm going to give the Elder pith a go so I'll report back with the result.
I got this book from good old Amazon about 2 years ago by the way and highly recommend it
I'm going to give the Elder pith a go so I'll report back with the result.
I got this book from good old Amazon about 2 years ago by the way and highly recommend it