# Tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius)

**Fomes fomentarius*; amadou, surgeon’s agaric*

**Known today as.** A hoof-shaped bracket of birch and beech.

Kind: Fungus

## What was it used for?

Its soft inner layer, beaten into felt, made amadou: tinder for flint and steel, a dressing to stop bleeding, and even caps and purses.

## What does modern science say?

Amadou does help blood clot. The fungus is being studied for its antimicrobial compounds.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **fomentariol**: the red-brown pigment
- **beta-glucans and chitin**: the felt of amadou
- **lanostane triterpenes**: 

**Mechanism.** Amadou is a felt of chitin and glucan that absorbs blood and holds a clot, which is why surgeons used it as a styptic into the nineteenth century, and it takes a spark, which is why Ötzi carried it. Nothing in it is absorbed.

**Dose.** Inert.

**Standing.** A material of fly-tiers and museum conservators; no medical use.

## What lore surrounds it?

Ötzi, the man found in the Alpine ice who died about 5,300 years ago, carried a piece of it in his pouch with his fire-making kit.

## Sources

- Peintner, U., et al. (1998). The Iceman’s fungi. *Mycological Research* 102: 1153–1162.
- Grienke, U., et al. (2014). “European medicinal polypores: a modern view on traditional uses.” *Journal of Ethnopharmacology* 154.

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*Tinder fungus.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-25. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/tinder-fungus

Historical description, not medical advice.