December. It’s getting gradually darker and colder in the forest, but there are still fungi growing there.
The party ain’t over yet……. :-))
°°°
The birch polypore is a fungus that grows almost exclusively on weakened birches as a parasite and causes brown rot and (nearly always) death of the host tree.
With age, the fruiting body of this species becomes corky and develops a smell of green apples.
This fungus was also carried by the “Ötzi Iceman”, the incredibly well-preserved 5000 year old Neolithic man found in 1991 in a glacier near the border of Austria and Italy.
It is presumed that the Iceman has used this fungus to fight bacterial infections.
Dutch name : Berkenzwam
German name : Birkenporling
Latin name : Piptoporus betulinus