English: True tinder polypore; Amadou; Surgeon's fungus; Tinder fungus; False tinder fungus; Hoof fungus; Tinder conk; Tinder polypore;
Ice man fungus.
Dutch: Echte tonderzwam; Tondelzwam; Tonder-gaatjeszwam.
Region: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America.
Content: Ergosterol, fungisterol, isoergosterone; synthesizes prostaglandins from linolenic and arachidoneic acids.
Use: inedible; to keep fire alive for days in the amadou, a material used primarily as tinder, but also used to make clothing and other items; Ötzi the Iceman carried four pieces of it; medicinal; anti inflammatory.
MycologyLarge polypore fruit bodies, shaped like a horse's hoof, brown, silvery grey to almost black; grows on various trees, which it infects through broken bark, causing rot, changing from a parasite to a decomposer.