[Regia-NA] Re: Making Fire

[Nicholson, Andrew]

> Fire fungus is called Horse Hoof fungus in the vernacular.=20
> Dunno it's real
> name. You find it on dead birch trees. You need to treat it=20
> first, slice it
> thinly and hammer it to make it like fine suede leather. Keep it dry.
>=20

There are two main types of fungus associated with fire-starting: Birch
Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus), also known as Razor-strop Fungus, =
which as
its name suggests, grows primarily on birch trees, is much better than =
the
birch bark as a tinder, and is shaped like a horse's hoof - and was =
also
used for keeping a blade edge; and Hoof Fungus (Fomes fomentarius) =
a.k.a.
Tinder Fungus, whose habitat is usually birch in Northern England and
Scotland [The North! :-)] , and beech and sycamore in Southern England.

Gu=F0rum

PS  Neither of these is edible!