Red-belted polypores are similar to the artist’s conk

Red-belted polypore - the name trips off the tongue. I was out in the woods the other day and found a beautiful medium-sized specimen growing out of a long dead log. This was a red-belted polypore, a common New England mushroom. When I showed it to my son, the first thing he asked (this is what he always asks about anything I find outside) was… is it edible?

If you look online, you will find the red-belted polypore listed as a medicinal by some (but not all) foragers. The U.S. Forest Service field guide to Eastern Mushrooms calls them inedible. David Arora’s “Mushrooms Demystified,” an awesome guide to everything mushroom, has this to say: “This woody conk is not often eaten, but in a pinch you can use the following recipe developed by my wife. Saw into 2-inch cubes, then marinate in olive oil and dandelion wine for at least 48 hours (be sure to use LOTS of garlic!). Roast slowly on skewers over charcoal indefinitely (minimum time - 20 hours). Cool. Pound vigorously…..” The recipe goes on in a similar humorous vein for some time ending with “…To eat, boil for twenty-four hours, squeeze thoroughly, garnish with gravel, and serve forth.” You obviously don’t want to be eating this extremely tough, woody, mushroom - better to learn to identify it and admire its subtle beauty.

Red-belted polypores are similar to the better-known artist’s conk. Like the artist’s conk they are shelf fungi, growing horizontally out of dead or dying wood. Just like an artist’s conk they are hard, you can draw on the underside but the etches are yellowish and the flesh bruises easily, so it is difficult to get very artsy with these. It’s also better to leave it on the tree so it can do its work.

Polypores are a type of mushroom that, instead of gills, have pores on the underside of their caps. So, if you were to turn one over you’d most likely see a uniform, almost solid surface, that if you look closely is studded with pores. This, just like the gill-bearing surface of the stereotypical mushroom, is the surface that produces the spores.

The name "red-belted polypore" comes from the red belt along the outer margin. This is something of a misnomer, my specimen had a yellowish-orange belt, which red-belted polypores are just as likely to have as a red belt. They can also have brown or white belts. So, instead of looking for a red belt, look for a shelf fungus that is dark brown or black nearer to the attachment point on the tree and has concentric furrows that get redder, or lighter, away from the attachment point, with a light-colored band at the edge. These fungi also have a varnished look to parts of the cap. If one had to choose an adjective to describe the shape, "gnarly" would be a good choice. Not a shelf for resting fine china upon.

The scientific name for the red-belted polypore is Fomitopsis pinicola. Fomitopsis means similar in appearance to Fomes. Fomes is the genus that includes hoof fungi, another common fungi that red-belted polypores can be confused with. One fun fact about hoof fungi, they’re also called tinder polypores, referring to their use in ancient times for lighting fires and for carrying burning embers from hearth to hearth. Look for a horse’s hoof attached to a dead birch tree and you’ve found one.

The species name "pinicola" means living on pine trees, which this mushroom often does. However, Lawrence Millman, in his book "Fascinating Fungi of New England," notes that red-belted polypores are not limited to pine trees. They’ve been found growing on at least 100 different species of tree hosts.

Winter is a great time of year to get to know your backyard perennial fungi. Some, like the red-belted polypore, can live for tens of years! These are major rotters of dead trees, fracturing the wood and turning it brown (this is called brown crumbly rot). These are good neighbors to have, not just beautiful but also turning our dead trees slowly back into soil.