Willow Bracket

Phellinus igniarius (L.) Quél.

Also called: Hardwood Trunk Rot

Safety first

Many edible mushrooms have toxic lookalikes, and some of those can be fatal. Have any mushroom identified in person by a local expert before you eat it.

If someone may have eaten a wild mushroom, call US Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or 911 right away. In Canada, call your provincial poison centre or 911.

Edibility

Inedible Source: Wikipedia: Phellinus igniarius

Classification from Wikipedia: Phellinus igniarius. Sources can be wrong or incomplete, and people react differently.

Never eat a wild mushroom based on this site or any app.

Photos

Lookalikes

No lookalikes are recorded for this species yet. That does not mean there are none. Many mushrooms look alike, so never rely on appearance alone.

Season

When this species has been recorded, by month, from open-licensed US and Canada observations. It shows when people report it, not a guarantee it is fruiting.

The highlighted bar is the current month.

View season data as a table
Recorded observations of Willow Bracket by month
MonthRecords
January27
February34
March62
April88
May200
June286
July397
August501
September409
October359
November92
December26

Where it is found

States and provinces with the most records. Check the foraging rules for the place you plan to visit.

Show 44 more
  • Montana41 records
  • Utah40 records
  • Pennsylvania38 records
  • Tennessee36 records
  • Nova Scotia31 records
  • Connecticut30 records
  • Massachusetts28 records
  • Minnesota27 records
  • Oregon27 records
  • Florida26 records
  • North Carolina24 records
  • Manitoba22 records
  • Illinois20 records
  • Ohio19 records
  • Arizona18 records
  • North Dakota17 records
  • New Mexico16 records
  • Saskatchewan15 records
  • Alberta14 records
  • Virginia13 records
  • South Dakota11 records
  • Kentucky11 records
  • Indiana10 records
  • Texas10 records
  • Iowa10 records
  • Newfoundland and Labrador9 records
  • Yukon9 records
  • Louisiana8 records
  • Missouri7 records
  • West Virginia7 records
  • Prince Edward Island5 records
  • Kansas5 records
  • New Brunswick5 records
  • South Carolina4 records
  • Maryland4 records
  • New Jersey3 records
  • Alabama3 records
  • Delaware2 records
  • District of Columbia2 records
  • Nevada2 records
  • Rhode Island2 records
  • Oklahoma1 records
  • Nebraska1 records
  • Mississippi1 records

All state and province foraging laws

Identification traits

Underside (gills, pores or teeth)pores
Ecologyparasitic

Traits vary. Use them to ask better questions of an expert, not to make a final call.

About

Phellinus igniarius (syn. Phellinus trivialis), commonly known as the willow bracket, fire sponge, false tinder polypore, punk ash polypore, or false tinder conk, is a fungus of the family Hymenochaetaceae. Like other members of the genus of Phellinus, it lives by saprotrophic nutrition, in which the lignin and cellulose of a host tree is degraded and is a cause of white rot. The fungus forms perennial fruiting bodies that rise as woody-hard, hoof or disc-shaped brackets from the bark of the infested living tree or dead log. The tree species is often willow but it may be commonly found on birch and alder and other broad leafed trees. The top is covered with a dark, often cracked crust, a stem is present only in its infancy. Unlike most fungi, it has a hard woody consistency and may persist for many years, building a new surface layer each year.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the original article.

More in the genus Phellinus

Never eat a wild mushroom based on this site or any app. See safety basics and the disclaimer.