Beefsteak Fungus

FistulinaceaeEdible (cook well)

FamilyFistulinaceae

EdibilityEdible (cook well)

HabitatOak trunks

SeasonSummer-Autumn

About the Beefsteak Fungus

Fistulina hepatica looks and bleeds like raw liver, oozing red juice when cut. Attaches to oak and chestnut trunks. Edible but sour, often marinated first. The rot it causes produces rich brown oak timber prized by furniture makers. A single bracket can weigh several kilograms.

Related Species

Wood Blewit

Edible (cook well)Autumn-Winter

Distinctive lilac-blue color when fresh. They must be cooked thoroughly - raw or...

Tricholomataceae · Forest leaf litter

Honey Fungus

Edible (cook well)Autumn

Contains the largest known organism on Earth by area - an Armillaria ostoyae in ...

Physalacriaceae · Various trees

Fried Chicken Mushroom

Edible (cook well)Autumn

Lyophyllum decastes fruits in dense clumps on the ground near trees. Firm flesh ...

Lyophyllaceae · Ground clusters near trees

Tawny Grisette

Edible (cook well)Summer-Autumn

Amanita fulva, one of the milder members of a deadly genus. Orange brown cap, ta...

Amanitaceae · Birch forests