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FUNGI - Champignons - Funghi 2014, six untouched squared pictures 40x40cm: fungus on leather, on ceramic, on skin, on plastic, on concrete, on metal. |
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Fomes fomentarius (commonly known as the tinder fungus or Iceman fungus) is a species of fungal plant pathogen found in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. The species produces very large polypore fruit bodies (banana strong smell) which are shaped like a horse's hoof and vary in colour from a silvery grey to almost black. It grows on the side of various species of tree, which it infects through broken bark, causing rot. The species typically continues to live on trees long after they have died, changing from a parasite to a decomposer. Though inedible, it has traditionally seen use as the main ingredient of amadou, a material used primarily as tinder, but also used to make clothing. The 5000-year-old Ötzi the Iceman carried four pieces of F. fomentarius, concluded to be for use as tinder. The species is both a pest and useful in timber and medicinal (hemostatic) production. The fungus has economic significance as it removes any timber value of infected trees. As it infects trees through damaged bark, it will often infect trees already weakened from beech bark disease. However, it is too weakly parasitic to infect healthy trees, and thus has the important and useful role of decomposing unusable timber. (wikipedia) |
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