Birch Polypore

Birch polypore is an extremely versatile mushroom with many diverse uses, including as a medicinal, a fire starter and a natural band-aid. Like the chaga fungus, it grows almost exclusively on birch trees but, unlike chaga, the birch polypore is parasitic and will grow on weakened trees, causing brown rot that will slowly kill it’s host over time, then continue to grow on the dead tree until there is nothing left to feed from. Once you find a tree that is hosting birch polypore remember it’s location well because it will keep producing these fungi year after year, to ensure you a steady supply. Like with all mushrooms you harvest though, just take a few and be sure to always leave some growing so that they can spread their spores and make sure you, or your fellow mushroom hunters, get a whole new crop the following year. We are lucky enough to have hundreds of birch trees growing on the eastern slope of the hill, leading down to Steve’s favourite fishing creek, and we recently discovered several well stocked trees sporting these medicinal mushrooms.

Birch polypore is fairly easy to identify as it grows only on birch trees and doesn’t have any close look-a-likes. They first appear in the spring but new buds can still be found growing into late autumn, each mushroom can grow for up to a year although for consumption the younger the better. When they first burst through the tree bark they are bulblike in shape (see photo below, left) then as they grow, they start to resemble a more kidney-like shape (below, middle). They range from a light brown to a greyish colour on the top and a white to creamy hue on the underside. Many of the ones we have been finding all seem to be scarred on the top where parts of the outer layer of skin have peeled off to reveal a lighter layer underneath. They have a firm, spongy feel to them which gets harder as they age. They may or may not have a short stalk attaching them to the tree. Like all polypores they have a porous underside, in birch polypores the pores are tiny but still visible with the naked eye if you look closely. This is where the spores are released from when they get older. As they age they turn darker on the bottom until they are blackish (below, right), at this stage they are way past their prime and should not be consumed. Birch polypores can potentially grow quite large, some reaching about 30cm in width.

The uses for birch polypore are many and it has been known to have been used by humans since ancient times. The 5,300 year old mummy, Ötzi, who’s remains were discovered frozen in ice in the early 1990’s and who has a fascinating museum dedicated to him in Bolzano, Italy, had a piece of birch polypore hanging from his kit on a leather strap. It might just have been ornamental but if you stick with me and learn all about its many uses it seems much more likely that he was carrying it for a purpose. Below is a photo we took at the Ötzi exhibition in northern Italy of a reproduction of what researchers believed Ötzi would have looked like, much more attractive than the shrivelled-up, frozen mummy they have on display there too! If you’re ever in the area it is well worth a visit to this absolutely fascinating museum, showcasing all the weapons, clothes and medicine kit he was carrying as well as a full autopsy on his body and its various wounds. The oldest unsolved murder case known to modern man!

The styrofoam-like texture and its slightly bitter taste doesn’t makes the birch polypore a popular choice for consuming as food. It is far more commonly taken as a medicinal in teas and tinctures. Birch polypore has been shown to work effectively as an anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antiviral, antibacterial and anti-biotic medicine. It has also been proven to regulate the immune system, sooth the nerves, eliminate fatigue and get rid of gut parasites. When Otzi’s stomach contents were examined it showed him to have gut parasites so this could be one of the possibilities of why he was carrying it. Taken in large quantities birch polypore can also act as a laxative. It’s kind of an all-rounder which explains why many people swear by drinking a cup of birch polypore tea a day to stay healthy.

Because of its antibacterial and antiseptic qualities, as well as its spongy texture when young, it can also be used as a handy band-aid if you ever cut yourself in the forest and don’t happen to have a conventional bandage on you. Make cuts into the bottom of the mushroom the size and shape of the bandage you need and then strip off the bottom layer. This can then be draped over the cut and, if still young and sticky, it will even adhere nicely to your skin to hold itself in place. Apparently it heals the cuts faster and some say, without scars too. Definitely worth trying sometime to see how effective this is!

Another handy use is as a fire starter, as it burns readily when dried and will also hold fire well so it can be transported to make fires elsewhere. This could potentially also be an explanation of why our buddy Ötzi, the prehistoric, wandering warrior, was carrying it.

And just when you thought there can’t possibly be more uses for this versatile mushroom apparently strips of birch polypore have also been used to replace leather or suede as a strop for keeping the edges of razors and knives sharp. Maybe Ötzi used it for his spear points!

With so many possible uses to experiment with it was hard to know where to start with our first batch of harvested birch polypore! But we decided to test its medicinal qualities first and so got out the dehydrator and, after thinly slicing the mushrooms, we dried them for about 8 hours until they lost all their moisture and snapped in half when we tried to bend them. In this dehydrated, brittle state they can be stored in a sealed, glass jar for many months. We then simmered a handful of them, adding a small amount of chaga that we’d harvested that day as well, in a large pot of water for an hour, creating a dark, mushroom-smelling tea. It turns out that birch polypore really is quite bitter, we needed more than a dash of maple syrup to take the edge off the first cup! The next day we tried mixing it with orange juice and it was actually quite tasty, definitely our recommended way to drink it. It will be very interesting to find out for ourselves if we can notice any difference in our health from consuming a cup of polypore and chaga tea every day so we are going to give it a go for the next few months. We will report back and let you know if we notice any miraculous improvements….!

(Update: we have definitely noticed improvements in our health! See the chaga page for more info…)