Today marks the celebration of Chinese New Year – the beginning of the Year of the Horse. Though Chinese culture is not well represented in the collections of the Minnesota Geological and Natural History Survey, which is the primary subject of Exploring, we would still like to celebrate the holiday by sharing a few images related to the zodiac sign of the New Year…

Known commonly as “horse hoof” or “hoof” fungus for the resemblance to a horse’s hoof, Fomes fomentarius is a species of fungi that grow on trees. Happy New Year!


– Fomes fomentarius, Horse Hoof Bracket, Itasca State Park, 1936


–Fomes fomentarius, Horse Hoof Bracket, Itasca State Park, 1936


– Horse Hoof Bracket Fungus on tree, I. Dorman standing, January 1943

(From the Ned Huff lantern slide collection in the Department of Botany records.)