The fungus inonotus tamaricis, which lives on tamarisk trees, is known in Maltese as lixka tal-bruk.

Lixka is the Maltese name for shelf or bracket fungi. In fact, this species characteristically grows in the shape of a shelf or bracket attached to the bark of living or dead trees. The word lixka was also used locally for dried plants used to start a fire or light a pipe.

This species of fungus does not seem to have an English name, so I will refer to it as the tamarisk bracket fungus which is a translation of its Maltese name. It grows on both dead and living trees and is considered as a pathogen because it can harm the trees it grows on. It is found in southern Europe, North Africa and parts of the Middle East, extending to Southern Asia and China. Several species can be found in the Maltese islands.

Bracket fungi are usually hard and tough. The actual fungus lives inside the tree and it is the fruiting body which grows on the bark. The fruiting bodies vary considerably in size, ranging from tiny specimen to large perennial species that keep growing year after year.

Many bracket fungi are brownish but some can be bright yellow, orange or red. They do not follow the well-known mushroom structure as they do not need a stalk to lift the fruiting body above the ground to release their spores.

Bracket fungi are usually hard and tough

Some species are saprophytes, that is, they live on dead organic matter. Others are parasites feeding on living wood, eventually killing the tree in which they grow. These species sometimes cause considerable damage to the timber industry.

The tamarisk bracket fungus is easily seen but very few people notice it growing on the trunks of tamarisk trees found growing along many of Malta’s coastal promenades.

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