@fascinatedbyfungi: This is a massive growth of mature #BeefsteakFungus #Fistulinahepatica growing out of a Chinquapin Oak up in Mendocino. This is a weakly parasitic brown rot fungi that usually favors hardwoods. It’s Polypore bracket fungi that grows from a small brownish/red gooey lump into a spreading liver/tongue looking growth. Often there is a sticky wet tacky layer on top, while bottom side is covered in small parallel tubes that disperse spores (similar in concept to boletes). The internal fibers of the mushroom radiate from the tree outwards. When sliced or viscerally ripped open (as in this video) these fibers take on the appearance of bloody raw beef, dripping with red juice. Despite its gory appearance, this is actually a tasty edible mushroom that has a light lemony flavor. When raw it has a texture somewhere between raw tuna and ripe tomato, when cooked it has mild flavor and is crunchy. Genetic studies have placed this in the same clade at Split-Gills (Schizophyllum). . This was by far the largest and most mature beefsteak I’ve seen. It was easily 3.5 ft across and was quite soggy, but still looked remarkably like a massive slice of organ meat coming out the side of a tree. This one was too old to bother eating, but was still worth giving a squeeze to see how truly bloody it is 🥩🩸🍄 . . . #beefsteakmushroom #beefsteak #polypore #fistulina #blood #mycology #gory #cottagehardcore #steak #meaty #fascinatedbyfungi
