Species details
Beefsteak fungus
Fistulina hepatica
Extra caution required
Photo: Strobilomyces · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A fleshy reddish-brown bracket resembling raw liver in appearance and section.
Identification features
It exudes reddish droplets; the short separate tubes are whitish to pink below.
Identification checklist
Check the entire fruitbody for identification. A fleshy reddish-brown bracket resembling raw liver in appearance and section. It exudes reddish droplets; the short separate tubes are whitish to pink below. Typical habitat: On old oak and sweet chestnut, at the base, in cracks, or on stumps.
Detailed features
- Cap
- 5–20 cm wide and 2–6 cm thick, fan- to shell-shaped, blood- to flesh-red and often gelatinously moist.
- Hymenophore
- Pores start pale pink and become reddish-brown; the tubes are separate from one another.
- Stem
- Stem absent or very short, thick, and lateral.
- Flesh
- Dark red, juicy and fibrous; may exude red juice when cut.
- Smell
- Sourish to indistinct.
- Spore print
- Pinkish-yellowish.
Habitat
On old oak and sweet chestnut, at the base, in cracks, or on stumps.
Fruiting period
July, August, September, October
Ecology
- Trophic mode
- Parasitic
- Host trees
- Oak (Quercus), Sweet chestnut (Castanea)
- Substrate
- Living wood, Dead hardwood
- Notes
- Most often on oak and sweet chestnut, especially damaged or weakened wood.
How to separate similar species
Compare especially with these similar species: Pseudoinonotus dryadeus, Laetiporus sulphureus. Check the combination of cap shape and colour, spore-bearing surface, stem, flesh changes and habitat. A single feature or photograph is not enough; if the key characters do not match the description, do not treat the identification as confirmed.
Similar species
- Pseudoinonotus dryadeus
Is more ochre to brown, harder, and lacks the characteristic blood-red juicy flesh.
- Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)
Is sulphur-yellow to orange and lacks liver-red flesh and separate tubes.
Conservation
- Red list
- R – rare species
- Notes
- On the Slovenian Red List: R – rare species.