horse shoe fungi

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jon r said:
has anyone got a really clear picture of a horse shoe fungi? :confused:

Any good?

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jon r said:
thanks thats great! :D Are there any other fungi which act in the same way as the horseshoe fungus that dont take 24 hours of boiling? :confused:

And can you find horseshoe fungus in the Midlands? (ive never seen it) :(

JemSeeley found a similar looking fungus recently which is either Artists Fungus or Southern Brachet fungus, and it performs fantastically well without any prep. Unlike Horse Hoof fungus, the whole of the inside of this one is similar in texture to the amadou layer of fomus and easily takes a spark with flint and steel and works really well in my fire piston.

The Horse hoof fungus is on the right and the Artists/Southern bracket is on the left.

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Once we've confirmed identification, I'll let you know :)
 
Horse Hoof fungus is quite common in Birch woodlands around here so if you have any Birch woodland near you, it ought to be there.

I look for trees where the top has broken off; like this one,

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It' quite a distinctive feature of trees attacked by the fungus in my experience. Once limbs hit the ground, the fungus will spore, so I collect from the ground after sporing. It's much easier to process then as most of the spore layer will have disintergrated and the outer layer will be quite soft. The last section to disintergrate is the amadou layer ;)

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