Birch Polypore ID

[Pappa]

Hi,

I found this fungus growing on a dead standing birch, with perhaps another 10 fruiting bodies on the same trunk. They all appeared to be identical except for a few of the fruiting bodies which had died back. The dead ones were black and shriveled underneath rather than white and fleshy.

The width is about 17 cm.

Anyway, here are the pics.

TOP

EDGE

EDGE / UNDERNEATH

UNDERNEATH

Pappa

 

[Pappa]

Hmmm, perhaps I should have looked online a bit more thoroughly befoer I posted. I think it may be a Piptoporus betulinus (Birch Polypore).

 

[Ranger Bob]

Yup, Birch polypore and a nice large specimen too..

 

[Dave Barker]

i have a big one of these. Dead and rock hard. any idea if they can be used for handles?

 

[bilko]

Am i right i thinking you can cut sections out of that and dry them to use as field plaster?. Also is it the top elastic layer or the meat underneath you would use?
Also, Sorry , But is the the polymore you cut long sections from to use as a strop?, I take it they have to be dried out though.

Sorry for all the questions but i found some of these and experimented with cutting bits off etc. But i found it had an almost clinical smell to it and was worried about putting the source of that smell, ie bacteria over a wound.

Obviously, when it comes to field first aid you use the best kit available to you as it's not wise to take chances or experiment with ones health. But i thought it would be rather fun to make a medieval first aid kit as it were.

 

[Ranger Bob]

Am i right i thinking you can cut sections out of that and dry them to use as field plaster?. Also is it the top elastic layer or the meat underneath you would use?
Also, Sorry , But is the the polymore you cut long sections from to use as a strop?, I take it they have to be dried out though.

Its from the underside, that you cut strips for plasters from and they work a treat .......I have only used it when its fresh.....I left some strips to dry and they just shrivalled up!
This is the fungus you use as a strop (another common name is Razorstrop fungus), although I've never tried using it as such!. I believe it nedds to be dried first.

 

[Rod]

I've made a couple of stropping boards from one of these. Huge specimen, by the way

I found to lay it flat and cut it open with a large sharp kitchen knife worked best. Like you were going to trim the crust off a loaf of bread. Then I let mine dry out a bit in my log store for about 7-10 days. Having dried out a bit I cut a slice off the open face and, using double sided carpet tape - which "sticks like sticky the stick insect stuck on a stick bun" (E. Blackadder) - I attached it to a flat ash board I had cut from a log. I then trimmed it to finish and shaved the stropping surface.

I'm looking to put a piece of emery cloth on the other side of the board to make an all-in-one 'hone and strop' field kit.

 

[Toddy]

If you create a shallow nest in this fungus and get a glowing coal into it, the fungus will burn slowly outwards, and downwards, for hours keeping the coal glowing nicely. It's a goodie

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[moduser]

I assume that with a dried out fungus?

Moduser

 

[bilko]

great replies
Next time i see one on my travels i'll be sure to bring it home.

 

[Toddy]

I assume that with a dried out fungus?

Moduser

Doesn't seem to matter....it sheds most of the rain anyway so it's not *that* wet to begin with. It can fairly smoke if you light the edge of a slice of it though. The same hollowing out / keep it alive/ hearth thing works with Fomes fometarius too. I buy the little discs of charcoal used for burning incense, etc and a tiny piece of one of them once lit and dropped onto the fungus is enough to start the whole thing. Charcloth works well too.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[moduser]

I have loads of them round near me so I'll give it a go with both fresh and old dried ones.

thanks

 

[Pappa]

I have a strange story to tell about my Birch Polypore.

I sliced the mushroom and laid it down on newspaper next to the radiator to dry out. After a few hours, my cat Peavey wandered over for a sniff. He seemed to like it and sat on it. I told him to bugger off; which he did.

Later, he went over to it again and laid down on it. I went over and told him to move. He immediately folded his ears, hissed at me, and looked like he would rip out my jugular if I got any closer. I told him where to stick it and threw him out of the house.

It should be noted that in the four years he's been in my care, and for the 7 or so years before then that I knew him quite well, he has never once hissed at me, bared his claws, or tried to go for me. Even when I hold him down to squirt flea treatment on him (which he really doesn't like), he has never been aggressive towards me.

It may have been just some unusual coincidence, but I really think there was something about that mushroom that he really liked. Not in the way he likes Catnip or Valarian, but a way that I don't understand and can't explain.

Pappa

 

[Ranger Bob]

Maybe the fungus is cursed or evil........?!?!

Seriously though.......that very odd!

 

[bilko]

I have a strange story to tell about my Birch Polypore.

I sliced the mushroom and laid it down on newspaper next to the radiator to dry out. After a few hours, my cat Peavey wandered over for a sniff. He seemed to like it and sat on it. I told him to bugger off; which he did.

Later, he went over to it again and laid down on it. I went over and told him to move. He immediately folded his ears, hissed at me, and looked like he would rip out my jugular if I got any closer. I told him where to stick it and threw him out of the house.

Thanks mate !!!
That realy made me laugh
Right down from my lunch
"Told him where to stick it"
I do love cats btw and dogs but cats are a different sort of love.