artist's bracket Ganoderma applanatum 2022-2025

this is my contribution to #fungifriday by Hive account@ewkaw

i go for a nice walk through the forest to Lillevik beach several times a year. i don't think i've ever seen any mushrooms growing in the ground but there are many decaying logs and stumps some with bracket fungi. there is one stump in particular that i make a point of stopping at to see how the artist's bracket are doing. i took these first several shots in September 2022. notice in particular the little one with the white edge on the left covered in cinnamon brown spores from the much larger one above it.

the white edge and the brown spores are good id clues. they are perennial and much like trees their age can be determined by the number of annual rings. the biggest one here is huge and still growing but the inner rings are hidden by the one close above it.

my hand is about 20 cm long so the lower bracket must have been about 50 cm in 2022. it had been raining so these are a dark shiny brown when wet but a much grayer and duller brown when dry

thw smooth white underside is what gives these fungi it's common name. by scratching the surface with a sharp object one can make a drawing that will keep for years

here's a better shot from 2022 of that little one i mentioned earlier

here it is at the bottom in july 2024. it has grown a little in two years and is looking nice with the striking white edge ring. the fungi are dry here and a much lighter shade of brown.

this shot is from may 2025. the little guy has grown considerably since last july.

the big one must be close to 60 cm here. the white edges are much grayer and wider because it is early spring. i don't know if it grows in the winter but the new growth since last year is clearly visible as the gray outer edge. i should go back soon and see if they have new sharp white edges.

aside from being used for art, these fungi make excellent amadou. when i was young we used to make fire without matches by striking a flint stone with a metal file to make sparks. the idea was to catch the spark in the dry spongy amadou and blow on it until it caught fire. we lit some other tinder with it and had our fire going. it's not quite a fast as striking a match but with some practice you can make a fire in minutes.
though it may have been a similar species of fungus, 'Remarkable evidence for its utility is provided by the discovery of the 5,000-year-old remains of "Ötzi the Iceman", who carried it on a cross-alpine excursion before his death and subsequent ice-entombment'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou