Skip to Navigation Skip to Content
Decorative woodsy background

Birch polypore, Piptoporus betulinus

birch_polypore.jpg
Birch polypore, Piptoporus betulinus. Illustration by Adelaide Tyrol

Also called birch bracket, this distinctive fungus only grows on birches, looks like nothing else that grows on birches, and is very common. Also in its favor from the human perspective is that it is not an aggressive tree killer, but is instead primarily in the business of decomposing dead trees. Birch polypore is present throughout the range of the birches, which grow around the globe in the northern hemisphere.

It is called a polypore because it used to be in a huge catch-all genus called Polyporus that included any non-mushroom-shaped fungus that produced its spores from pores, as opposed to gills or some other structure. Now these ex-Polyporuses have been parceled out into over 100 genera, Piptoporus being one, and further divided into several families.

The white-to-brownish fruiting bodies are annual, emerging from the bark of birches in spring and summer, but they deteriorate slowly and are still visible through the winter, though by then they have blackened and are not so attractive. Most fungal conks are woody and hard, but birch polypores have a leathery feel and an inflated look, as though a last breath from the tree had puffed them up a bit. The conks are attached to the tree by short, fat stalks. The smooth upper surface folds over at the outside edges, leaving a rounded rim around the flattened lower surface. The tiny pores that cover the lower surface are whitish when new, and up to a centimeter long, creating a large surface area from which millions of spores develop.

Perhaps a birch polypore gets its start many years before we see it, when a spore lands in a wound or a broken branch of a healthy host. Before the infection has a chance to spread, it is stopped in its tracks by the tree’s defense mechanisms and compartmentalized, to lie dormant for years until age or a downturn in fortune weakens the tree. At this point the ailing birch can no longer afford to maintain its defensive arsenal and the fungus revives and spreads.

By the time the puffy fruiting body emerges, decay is extensive. Wood rotted by the birch polypore is said to smell of green apples.

This is one of the few brown rotting fungi that exclusively attack hardwoods in nature, although in field and laboratory experiments pines, spruces, and poplars have been successfully infected. Brown rot fungi change but do not remove lignin; instead, they break down cellulose and hemicelluloses – the white, stringy components – leaving yellowish brown cubes. The birch recycling process is rapid, and this fungus can reduce wood density by 30 to 70 percent in just four months. After a few more months, the wood is very light in weight and can be crumbled to a powder in your hand. The interval between death and decay is, however, long enough for birds to excavate cavities in the softened wood and raise a family.

All fungi, previously believed to be a low form of life, are now considered to be more like animals than plants, and, like us, they manufacture compounds that are toxic to their enemies, most notably bacteria, that may either attack the fungus or compete with it for food.

The ability of fungi to manufacture antibiotics has been exploited by people long before penicillin was isolated from mold in the 1930s, beginning the modern antibiotic frenzy. Iceman, whose 5,300-year-old mummified body was revealed by melting ice in the Tyrolean Alps in Northern Italy in 1991, was packing a medicine kit complete with antibiotics. Tied to a leather thong was a lump of Piptoporus betulinus, which he is presumed to have used to fight bacterial infections. Nowadays, we humans exploit the fungal realm extensively in the commercial production of many hundreds of antibiotics.

Mushroom field guides call birch polypore “inedible,” some mentioning that it is bitter tasting despite having a pleasant, mushroomy smell. It has nonetheless long been used by herbalists, especially for making a tea from dried specimens that is believed to act as a restorative tonic.

Because it can be used in the final stages of sharpening knives and razors, it is also called the razor strop fungus. Like some other fungal conks, it will smolder for a long time and can be used to start fires.

Discussion *

Dec 29, 2015

We found the Chaga on our yellow birch trees. We used a ladder as Chaga is usually pretty high in the trees. Cone shaped Chaga is easier to saw off than the wider mass type we also found. Once this is dried and broken up for grinding, I put the fine powder in a tea infuser, and set that inside the coffer maker on top of the fresh grounds, so we could benefit from it’s magical properties. I save the Chaga stuffed infuser leftovers, using it each morning for about a week before either throwing the used wet powder into a nut bread recipe or soup. Today I am cutting up the polypores and will use them as a tincture or make a salve for my face or for a wound cream. My sister threw some slices in her vegetable soup and said they smelled so good cooking. Then she tried a bite of the polypore, and she instantly puckered up stating it was very, very bitter, similar to ear wax! lol

Cindy
Nov 22, 2015

I wouldn’t say the tea is undrinkable. It does have an odd flavour, and it is my least favorite of the polypores I’ve tried. But I find it fairly easy to drink. Definitely worth doing. Fomes Fomentarius is probably the most pleasant.

Jeff
Sep 21, 2015

I am very curious about these. I have them everywhere around my house. Can eat them just the way they are?

Mike
Sep 30, 2014

Mike,

Piptoporus betulinus is specific to birch trees, there are many other polypores found on other tree species but not P. betulinus.

Dave

Dave
Jul 28, 2014

I agree with Peter - it has an unpleasant taste. But it helps sick people!

Anatol
Feb 25, 2014

This fungi is absolutely VILE when made as a tea. When thinly sliced it looks like chicken and when fried is shockingly repellant. The only way to get this into you is either make capsules or alcoholic tincture.

Peter
Sep 13, 2013

These also grow on other trees, not just birch.

Mike
Sep 25, 2011

If a person is allergic to birch trees and uses a throat spray with this ingredient…what would be the consequence?  Would the person have an allergic reaction?  Could the fungus grow in the person’s throat or lungs?

B. Grimaldi
Sep 07, 2011

I have these birch polypores I found at the lake from birch trees and I’ve heard that they can be medicinal. I want to use them as a daily tonic but I’m not sure (of these old ones I found) can be of use for anything. I’d be interested if you have additional information on these.
I was initially looking for chaga mushrooms, but found these instead.
Thanks

Alison

Leave a reply

To ensure a respectful dialogue, please refrain from posting content that is unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, libelous, obscene, or inflammatory. Northern Woodlands assumes no responsibility or liability arising from forum postings and reserves the right to edit all postings. Thanks for joining the discussion.