English: Willow bracket; Fire sponge; Iqmik.
Synonym: Phellinus trivialis.
Clades:
Hymenochaetaceae;
Polyporales;
Basidiomycota.
Mycology: saprotrophic, degrading lignin and cellulose of a host tree, causing white rot; perennial fruiting bodies, hard, woody, woody-hard, persisting for years, hoof or disc-shaped; often on willow, also on birch, alder and others; top is covered with a dark, often cracked crust; stem present only when young; woodpeckers favour its site as a good place to excavate a nesting chamber; small, grayish brown pores; forms a new layer of tubes superimposed on the old layers; unreleased spores often find themselves sealed in by later growth; harder with age and dryness, with humidity it softens; smell a pronounced mushroom character; taste is bitter; flesh is dyed black from potassium hydroxide
Use: prized as kindling material.