Huge Chaga

[_Matt_]

Check out this bad boy!
1018910190

[fish]

drool! in the uk?

[_Matt_]

Yeah. Staffordshire.

[JonnyP]

E is a biggun. Not heard of them South of Scotland either..

[Humakt]

Hmm...now I've seen something just about identical to that on a birch tree, down here in the south east.
I assumed it was a burl.
I have a picture of it on my home PC (at work now), so I'll post it later to see if I have misidentified. Or am I right in saying they do look very similar from a distance?

[jcornelius6]

Good find! We sadly don't have any in Germany..., not north enough I think...

Bye,
Alex

[shepherd]

awesome find, good work

[MikeWilkinson]

Wow. Excellent find. I keep thinking I've spotted some and then on closer inspection it ends up being a burl.

[MadZ]

so thats a fungi?? i'll have to check the tree's around by me i have seen loads of this kind of thing on trees locally, i always thought they were burrs not fungi, any one know of any uses for this?? like is it edible, tinder uses etc??

cheers

Madz

[luresalive]

I saw something very similar over here in NI, I cut it off..it was a burl, not true tinder fungus at all..I was very disappointed!

[MikeWilkinson]

so thats a fungi?? i'll have to check the tree's around by me i have seen loads of this kind of thing on trees locally, i always thought they were burrs not fungi, any one know of any uses for this?? like is it edible, tinder uses etc??

cheers

Madz

Hi Madz, Chaga is about as good as it gets when it comes to tinder fungus. Not common in the uk though.

[_Matt_]

I'll have a closer look soon to be sur. But a Birch tree a couple of metres away definitely has Chaga on it so it seems likely. I keep reading that it's uncommon or rare, but i have found it several times so far without looking. Or maybe by uncommon they just mean not as frequent as a Birch Polypore?


so thats a fungi?? i'll have to check the tree's around by me i have seen loads of this kind of thing on trees locally, i always thought they were burrs not fungi, any one know of any uses for this?? like is it edible, tinder uses etc??
It's also highly prized for it's medicinal uses.

[MadZ]

some more research is on the cards for me now then, cheers fella's

[Geoff Dann]

Hmm...now I've seen something just about identical to that on a birch tree, down here in the south east.
I assumed it was a burl.
I have a picture of it on my home PC (at work now), so I'll post it later to see if I have misidentified. Or am I right in saying they do look very similar from a distance?

I would have concluded the same had I seen that, but then I live on the south coast and I've never seen chaga.

[Geoff Dann]

I'll have a closer look soon to be sur. But a Birch tree a couple of metres away definitely has Chaga on it so it seems likely. I keep reading that it's uncommon or rare, but i have found it several times so far without looking.

Hmmm. I you sure these are all chaga?

[JonnyP]

Hmmm. I you sure these are all chaga?

It does look like it. The outside of the true tinder fungus looks like a patch where the tree has been scorched by fire, normally in a joint between the main stem and a side shoot, but all the ones I have seen (about 10-20 trees in Sweden) it grows into the tree. This one is a lump on the tree which would more suggest a burr, but it does look like ttf going by the pic.
Most of the burrs I have seen on birch have many twigs coming out of them, so it would be interesting to find out what this is..

[_Matt_]

Hmmm. I you sure these are all chaga?

I suppose not as I can only speak for the ones I've harvested. The rest I've only looked at. But they have all looked the same.

[Geoff Dann]

Go and google "chaga"! I'm 99% certain the picture you've posted is a burl, and I suspect the other things you found were also burls. I found one in Sussex that looked exactly like that today. Chaga looks "burned", as a previous poster said.

Chaga only occurs (in the UK) in Scotland, and there mainly in the far north.

[MadZ]

do you have a link for the info Geoff?? or was it from a book or similar?

i found some info on the wiki about them, but it only says that in England its known as a sterile conk trunk rot of birch, does not say where in the uk it grows either, if you have read that info on the net could you post a link to the site please, quiet interested in seeing it, as i'm pretty sure i have seen a few, would like to confirm if they are or not and the more info on them the better

cheers Madz

[Geoff Dann]

It's in Stefan Buczaki (Collins). "Mainly northern, especially northern Scotland".

I'm basically going from the picture though. I see stuff like that on birch trees all the time, and they are burls. Chaga is a rare fungus in most of the UK. You aren't going to keep stumbling across it in Staffordshire, but you will keep stumbling across burls that look just like the picture in the opening post. Sorry, but I don't believe it. :-)

[MadZ]

cool man cheers for the info, i'm right down south and when the weather picks up, i'll go look at the ones i thought are burrs on the tree, if i find a chaga it'll be a bonus, from what i have been reading on the wiki i'm 50/50 on if they are or not chaga or a burr, i guess a small incision would give the game away if i cant determine what they from looks alone.

cheers

Madz

[JonnyP]

This is chaga (true tinder fungus). Note the yellow/orange colour of the inside and the fire scortched look of the outside.
Sorry, not best of pics as the light is going..
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s188/jonpickett/P1160947_zpsb1b8bcad.jpg (http://s152.photobucket.com/user/jonpickett/media/P1160947_zpsb1b8bcad.jpg.html)

[MadZ]

cheers Jonny, you find that locally?

would it be best to grab it after it has released its spores, to keep it growing near where there found? or are they past the point of use once the spores are released.

sorry million and one questions

[_Matt_]

Apparently harvesting anything smaller than a melon will kill the tree (a lot faster). I'll be returning to the original location tomorrow so we will see for certain what this and the other growth are.

[JonnyP]

cheers Jonny, you find that locally?

would it be best to grab it after it has released its spores, to keep it growing near where there found? or are they past the point of use once the spores are released.

sorry million and one questions
No, this was some I still got from the Sweden trip some years ago. Not sure about harvesting, but I do know the tree will die from it.
More info and a better pic of some on a tree on Kevins blog.. http://naturallore.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/chaga-tincture/

[AdrianRose]

I gathered several very large Chaga specimens when I was in Scotland last month and I think that what you have is a burl not a chaga sorry.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/18/tymerebe.jpg

That's a chaga specimen.

If it is a chaga tho, don't be too concerned about it dropping its spores as chaga isn't actually a fruiting body in the traditional sense. It's more accurate to say that is a mass of herniated mycelium that has erupted from the tree. So there won't be any spores to release as such.

All the best
Ade

[MadZ]

cheers Ade, only reason i ask is if they are rare i dont really want to be harvesting them if they are chaga, would rather see and appreciate them while on the tree

[_Matt_]

I think that what you have is a burl not a chaga sorry.
It doesn't concern me either way. I have previously harvested Chaga. I just thought it was comically big!

[Geoff Dann]

I have previously harvested Chaga.

In Staffordshire??

[Chiseller]

That ain't no chaga.
.

[_Matt_]

In Staffordshire??

Yeah. And then more again on Wednesday in a different location 40 miles away. The big thing on the tree was a burl. I just never looked close enough before as it requires climbing a tree with no branches or anything else to really stand on.

[woodstock]

I don't suppose you want to swap for some Maitake dryed or in ticture form