Harvesting Horse's Hoof Fungus

[Atarian]

Hi all,

I was walking through a local wood here in the West Midlands, and came across a downed Birch. I wanted some Birch bark for tinder, so I drew my little legal Opinel and started harvesting.

As I was doing so, I noticed the birch was covered in Horse's Hoof fungus. Without thinking, I pried one off (about 4 inches by 3 inches, so it wasn't huge) and put it in my pocket along with some Birch bark scraps.

I'm feeling a little guilty now, as I've read that they take a while to grow and can be quite rare.

I'm fairly new at the bushcraft thing, and wanted to try and have at least a net-positive impact on the landscape that I practice on. Am I a douchebag for doing this?

 

[Toddy]

No, you're not.
The fungus as it is now has probably shed millions of seeds, and if the dead tree is covered in them then that's probably what contributed to it's death. The fruiting bodies will still grow on the dead tree, indeed you can often see where they change angle once the tree topples down so that they're still growing their 'right' way up.

Rule of thumb is clear; don't damage a living tree if you harvest, from a dead one you're not going to do any harm.

They're only rare in some areas. Around here the fungus is prolific and it's the same in other areas we camp too.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Dave]

You guys get fomes fomentarius growing in 'the west midlands' on birch?!

Sounds like a tall tale.

 

[Atarian]

No, you're not.

Thanks for that Toddy, I didn't want to be That Guy

 

[awarner]

Find loads of them on beech in the New Forest and surrounding areas

 

[Atarian]

You guys get fomes fomentarius growing in 'the west midlands' on birch?!

Sounds like a tall tale.

Pics or it didn't happen, eh? I've only got pictures of the fungus, it's entirely likely I've misidentified it.

 

[Dave]

Cant see the piccies mate.

 

[Atarian]

Try now, I goofed the links

 

[Dave]

mmmm, dont know. can you do a piccie of the underside, [is it like brown felt?] and split in half? ]
Is the construction millions of little tubes?

It should look like this:

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/easy-way-to-use-fomes-fomentarius-as-tinder/

 

[Zingmo]

I've found loads of horse hoof growing on birch. It is the most common host in the north.

So, is this one destined to be processed into amadou?

Z

 

[Atarian]

Your wish is my command:

 

[Atarian]

I've found loads of horse hoof growing on birch. It is the most common host in the north.

So, is this one destined to be processed into amadou?

Z

I think I mght give it a go, though boiling something for 24 hours seems like a it of a chore. Mind you, if it means it'll take a spark from my steel, it might be worth it. Plus, of course, it'll be a great learning experience.

 

[Dave]

I dont know. It could be a young example, in which case, youve got a nice amount of amadou there.

Someone more knowledgable on shrooms will be along.....Chop off some of the stuff at the bottom,and light it.
It should smolder for hours, the brown stuff at the top needs processing into amadou if it is, which is a bot of a chore.

 

[Atarian]

The Trama looks right, and it's got the spore tubes... but the shell looks very different. Hmmm.

 

[Dave]

The Trama looks right, and it's got the spore tubes... but the shell looks very different. Hmmm.

Yeh, but it could be just younger, its small. The cuticle goes grey and rock hard with age. Yours looks almost rotten. I break up the bigger older ones, into roughly 6 inch squares and dangle from my tarp, which smolder all night, to try and deter midges, along with citronella oil in a lamp. The older ones are much bigger, but have very little trauma layer, or amadou.

 

[Toddy]

They come odd shapes at times. I would happily pick and use that for amadou.

Get the hard crispy shell off it asap. It's a right royal pain when it dries out.

The corky layer is the stuff that will make the amadou, but the rest of the tubular stuff is worth slicing very finely (dead easy, a knife just slides through it if you do it lengthways).

If you do catch a spark, light the end of a bit of the tube stuff and put it into a split stick beside you in the ground. The wind will keep it alive and let you footer around with the spark on the amadou as you try to get from that to flame. If it doesn't work right off, then just light another bit from the piece you've kept alive in the split stick

I don't boil amadou for 24 hours. I don't boil it in urine either. It just needs boiled up until it softens out and if you're clever about it and do it in some hardwood ashes, then you can just beat the amadou out or better stuff comes from just sitting and gently working it out into a sheet like chamois leather with your fingers. Rub in more hardwood ashes (thanks Ogri ) as you do so. If you don't get to it right away, just leave the amadou soaking in the water you boiled it up in. It will eventually go mouldy, but it takes it's time to do so, and it still burns

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Dave]

I would have thought it odd to find it in the west midlands, on birch specifically though?
Ive never found any in Yorkshire or Lancashire. I know it grows in the south on beech and so on.

 

[sachapost]

Let me know how you fare, I tried to make amadou a couple of times most of the times I ended up with quite hard, brittle pieces of the trama layer that smouldered but needed an open flame to light. I found the age of the fungus to be an important factor, if you can't depress the cuticle with your thumbnail it's probably hardened too much. Boiling it with hardwood ash helps, as does a slow boil on a wood stove for a day or so. Also, using your hands to tease apart the fibres (to get that suede-like quality) is better than beating it, it tends to break it. Good luck!

 

[Zingmo]

We're a long way south of you here. Never found it growing on the palm trees though...

Z

 

[Toddy]

Edit, sorry Zingmo, reply to previous post.
M

Not sure about that; I've used some truly enormous ones and made good amadou from it. Brick hard ones as well.

It's common on birch round here; I didn't know it could grow on beech until someone mentioned it on the forum; the tiny little ones are brilliant since they're pretty much just amadou, but the big ones give a massive sheet from it.

Beating it out works well if the layer is thick. It's not a batter it to bits beating, it's a 'bounce a stick off it repeatedly on top of a wooden board or a tree stump' type beating, and keep it wet while you're doing it.

If you take a biggish one and turn it upside down, carve a thumb wide hole in it and put an ember in it, you can keep that burning literally for hours. Nearly five hours I have managed to have one burn and still be able to pick it up

M