Fistulina hepatica

Edibility

This is one of my personal favourite mushrooms to eat. the texture is soft but firm with a gelatinous layer that forms on the top (depending on weather) .When sliced it quickly changes from a light pink to a dark red and resembles a piece of steak, hence its common name beefsteak. it has a lemony/acidic like flavour and has been used by some to make desserts although its more commonly used in savoury dishes

Habitat

This is not very common so if you have found one or even more you are very lucky.

Beefsteak is a Parasitic bracket fungi that attaches itself to native eucalyptus quite often when the tree is dead or in decline so it can be found in a wide range of different environments.

Description

This another mushroom whose common name describes the characteristics perfectly, beefsteak fungus, beefsteak polypore, ox tongue, or tongue mushroom.

The scientific name Fistulina from the word fistula which in latin refers to the brackets structure and means with small hollow tubes, and the word hepatica from the word Hepaticus also from Latin means of the liver.

This is quite a very good mushroom for beginners due to its quite distinctive characteristics and also habitat which narrows down potential lookalikes however can be quite elusive so you will need patience.

Appearance

The young fruiting body of the beefsteak is small between 3cm - 5cm across and is light pink in appearance and looks more like a rolled up piece of chewing gum than a liver, but when it is fully developed it will grow a lot larger 10cm - 30cm long and 3cm - 6cm thick its shape then resembles a liver or an ox tongue (hence the common name).The upper surface of a Beefsteak Fungus gradually turns deep red and develops a rough looking surface just like the taste buds of a tongue.

The pores start of pale yellow and become reddish-brown as the fruiting body matures. The tubes separate very easy and unlike those of many other polypores, are not bonded together.

Spore Colour  

Pale pinkish yellow.

Distribution

QLD-NSW-VIC-SA-WA-TAS

Lookalikes
Inonotus hispidus is a similar looking large reddish-orange bracket fungus with a hairy upper surface; it has been recorded in many states in Australia and is not considered edible however its used as a traditional folk medicine in Asia and some parts of Europe, and is also used to dye wool.