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2025-06-19T07:07:42Z

Description

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{{Short description|Species of fungus}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Phellinus_igniarius_Oak_2009_G1.jpg
| genus = Phellinus
| species = igniarius
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]) [[Quél.]] (1886)
| synonyms =
* ''Boletus igniarius'' <small>L. (1753)</small>
* ''Phellinus alni'' <small>(Bondartsev) Parmasto, 1976</small>
}}

'''''Phellinus igniarius''''' (syn. ''Phellinus trivialis''), commonly known as the '''willow bracket''', '''fire sponge''''','' '''false tinder polypore''', '''punk ash polypore''',<ref name="aud">{{Cite book |last=[[Audubon]] |title=Mushrooms of North America |publisher=[[Knopf]] |year=2023 |isbn=978-0-593-31998-7 |pages=145}}</ref> or '''false tinder conk''',<ref name="Arora1986">{{Cite book |last=Arora |first=David |author-link=David Arora |url=https://archive.org/details/arora-david-mushrooms-demystified-a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-fleshy-fungi-ten-speed-press-1986/page/581/mode/2up |title=Mushrooms Demystified: A Comprehensive Guide to the Fleshy Fungi |publisher=[[Ten Speed Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-89815-170-1 |edition=2nd |location=Berkeley, CA |pages=581-82 |orig-date=1979}}</ref> is a fungus of the family ''[[Hymenochaetaceae]]''. Like other members of the genus of ''[[Phellinus]]'', it lives by [[saprotrophic nutrition|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 [[Bracket fungus|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.

==Description==
The bracket measures {{Convert|5–20|cm|frac=2}} in diameter,<ref name="Arora1986" /> but in rare cases may be 40 cm wide. The thickness of the bracket varies from {{Convert|2–12|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}}, to 20 cm in exceptional cases. These conks are among the longest persisting fungal fruit bodies, displaying up to eighty annual [[growth ring]]s.<ref>{{cite book | last=Atkinson | first= George | date= 1961 | title= Mushrooms - Edible and Otherwise | location= New York | publisher= Hafner Publishing Co. | page=420 }}</ref> The fungus has small, grayish brown pores, about 4–6 per square millimetre. Its tubes have a length of about {{Convert|2–7|mm|abbr=on|frac=8}}. Each year, the fungus forms a new layer of tubes superimposed on the old layers. Unreleased old spores often find themselves sealed in by later growth that clog the tubes and they appear in cross section as brown spots.

The brown flesh is {{Convert|10-20|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}} thick<ref name="aud" /> and becomes harder with age and dryness, softer with humidity. The smell of the fruit body has a pronounced mushroom character, the flavor of the meat is bitter. Upon contact with [[potassium hydroxide]], the flesh is dyed black. The [[Basidiospore|spores]] form a whitish cast.<ref name="Arora1986" /><ref name="jordan114">Michael Jordan: ''The encyclopedia of fungi of Britain and Europe.'' frances lincoln ltd, 2004. {{ISBN|0711223785}}, S. 114.</ref>

=== Similar species ===
Similar species include ''[[Phellinus arctostaphyli|P. arctostaphyli]]'', [[Phellinus pomaceoides|''P.'' ''pomaceoides'']], ''[[Phellinus tremulae|P. tremulae]]'', ''[[Fulvifomes robiniae]]'', and members of ''[[Fomitiporia]]''.<ref name="aud" />

== Ecology ==
The species is a [[polypore]], with pores on the underside that bear basidiospores. The species causes a [[Wood-decay fungus|white rot]] that leads to the tree to decay.<ref name="botit">{{cite web |author=Diane Pleninger and Tom Volk |title=''Phellinus igniarius'', Iqmik, used by native Americans with tobacco |url=http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/nov2005.html}}</ref> Woodpeckers are known to favour its site as a good place to excavate a nesting chamber since the wood will be soft and weaker around its location.

==Uses==
The species is considered to be inedible,<ref>{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=Roger |title=Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America |publisher=Firefly Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-55407-651-2 |location=Buffalo, NY |page=307}}</ref> being woodlike.<ref name="Arora1986" /> Tthere is some evidence that it may have potential medicinal uses. A 2014 study in mice suggests an extract of the mushroom fruit body may have a high therapeutic potential for ameliorating multiple sclerosis progression.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Lan |last2=Wu |first2=Guang |last3=Choi |first3=Bo Young |last4=Jang |first4=Bong Geom |last5=Kim |first5=Jin Hee |last6=Sung |first6=Gi Ho |last7=Cho |first7=Jae Youl |last8=Suh |first8=Sang Won |last9=Park |first9=Hyoung Jin |date=2014 |title=A mushroom extract Piwep from Phellinus igniarius ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by inhibiting immune cell infiltration in the spinal cord |journal=BioMed Research International |volume=2014 |pages=218274 |doi=10.1155/2014/218274 |doi-access=free |issn=2314-6141 |pmc=3922003 |pmid=24592383}}</ref>

It was prized as [[Firelighting|kindling]] material. In Alaska, it is burnt by locals, and the ash (punk ash) is mixed with [[chewing tobacco]] to enhance the effect of the [[nicotine]].<ref name="botit" />

==Gallery==
{{Mycomorphbox
| name = ''{{PAGENAME}}''{{italic title}}
| hymeniumType = pores
| capShape = no
| whichGills = no
| stipeCharacter = NA
| ecologicalType = parasitic
| howEdible = inedible
}}<gallery>
Tune u Hájské in winter 2010 (25) cropped.JPG|''Phellinus igniarius'' seen in winter in Strakonice District, Czech Republic
Pilze d. Heimat, T. 24 - Polyporus igniarius.jpg|Illustrated in [[Otto Schmeil|Schmeil]]'s scientific atlas
Feuerschwamm Poren (1).jpg|The pores on the lower surface, magnified
Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms - t. 132.jpg|Illustrated in James Sowerby's Coloured Figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms, (published 1797–1809)
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1356296}}

[[Category:Stone fruit tree diseases]]
[[Category:Fungal tree pathogens and diseases]]
[[Category:Fungi of Europe]]
[[Category:Fungi of North America]]
[[Category:Fungi described in 1753]]
[[Category:Inedible fungi]]
[[Category:Phellinus|igniarius]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Fungus species]]

Phellinus igniarius - Revision history

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