Methods of using tinder deciduous for the treatment of the liver. Trutovik real application and healing properties of the fungus

The tinder fungus has a lot of varieties, most of which are beneficial for our body. Experienced mushroom pickers know about all its capabilities, but now we will pay attention to its composition, use in medicine and everyday life, and also tell you how to properly collect, harvest and use this forest dweller.

Botanical description

Trutoviki, or tinder - representatives of a non-systematic group of fungi belonging to the department of basidiomycetes. They grow on wood, but sometimes on the ground.

Their hymenophore is tubular, fruiting bodies are prostrate, sessile or hat-legged, with the appearance of pulp - from fleshy to hard (leathery, cork, woody).

Energy value and calories

100 g of this product contains only about 22 kcal, as well as:

proteins - 3.09 g;
fat - 0.34 g;
carbohydrates - 3.26 g.

Chemical composition

In addition to the high content of proteins and carbohydrates, the tinder fungus contains a lot of fiber, resinous substances, B vitamins, selenium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and manganese.

Medicinal properties

The medicinal properties of the tinder fungus are many:

bactericidal;
antiviral;
restorative;
expectorant;
antitumor;
wound healing;
rejuvenating;
diuretic;
anti-inflammatory.

Collection and procurement rules

Polypore mushrooms can be harvested throughout the year, but the main thing is that they grow on living trees. The mushroom must be carefully separated at its base from the tree. Do not forget to then cut off the crust and growth from it with a knife.

They can also be prepared in the form of tinctures, which are then stored in the refrigerator, or in the form of a crushed powder, stored in a jar or other glass container. Another option is freezing. Then the mushrooms will be able to extend the period of their usefulness up to six months, or even up to a year.

Important!When making an infusion, be sure to stick to the recipe, otherwise you may experience side effects after using it: headache, nausea and vomiting.

Application

These mushrooms can be used both for medical purposes and in everyday life.

In medicine

Mushrooms are used to treat many different diseases:

ulcer;
different tumors;
cardiovascular diseases;
constipation;
violations of the liver;
bladder disease;
pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis;
pancreas;
gout, etc.

In addition, they promote wound healing, and are also part of recipes for weight loss and against insomnia.

At home

In the old days, tinder fungi were used as tinder (wick), kindling a fire with it. Hats and some clothes were made from them, a kind of natural suede was obtained.
Today, these mushrooms are used in beekeeping as fuel for the smoker. They are also used in the manufacture of souvenirs, crafts, pendants.

Did you know?Some modern artists still use felt-tip pens with a homemade core, cut just from a tinder fungus. In such a tool, you can change the shape and size of the writing rod at your discretion. Yes, and replacing it with a new one is also not difficult, just go to the forest. Artists believe that in this case the drawn lines are more juicy and varied.

The role of the fungus in the life of the tree

There are two options here: either cut down the tree, uproot the stump and burn it, or constantly cut the mushrooms, disinfecting the places where they appear.

Although it cannot be said that the appearance of tinder fungi is an unambiguously negative phenomenon. Yes, on the one hand, they destroy wood on a healthy tree, weakening it, on the other hand, they participate in the decomposition of dead wood, turning it into humus.

Varieties of tinder fungus

There are many subspecies of this fungus. Now we will tell you about its main representatives.

larch (real)

Larch, or, as it is also called, “real” is the most useful type of tinder fungus. It is inedible, but medicinal. It is widely used by nutritionists who deal with patients with impaired metabolism. They are also used to treat constipation and to stop bleeding.

In structure, these mushrooms are woody. Their width is from 5 to 40 cm, thickness is 5–20 cm. They are mounted sideways on trees.

This is an inedible fungus that mainly settles on dead wood (mainly birch stumps). It is also called the artist's mushroom, because when pressed with a knife, a dark imprint is left on which you can draw.

This species is very large, reaching 40–50 cm in diameter. The surface of its cap is matte, and in appearance it seems dry, its color varies from rusty brown to gray brown.

Lacquered (reishi)

There are no toxic substances in this subspecies. Useful cosmetics are made on its basis (for example, for skin and nails), and are also used to rejuvenate the whole body and cleanse the liver, which leads to skin cleansing from various rashes.

The color of his hat ranges from reddish to brown-violet, and sometimes even black with a yellowish tint. It has a smooth surface, reminiscent of a varnish coating.

The fungus has diuretic, antitumor, antibacterial and antiviral properties. It also increases the activity of hair growth. Young specimens are quite edible, they are used fresh, salted, pickled, dried.

Outwardly, it resembles something. It often grows at the base of trunks. Its flesh is white, characterized by an attractive aroma of nuts and mushrooms.

In cooking, this subspecies is most often used. Its regular use lowers the level of cholesterol and sugar in the blood, normalizes the state of the cardiovascular system. Has antiviral and anti-inflammatory action. Vegetarians often replace poultry with them.

Important!In cooking, you can use only young specimens growing on coniferous trees, and then only in a thermally processed form!

They are usually located low above the ground on tree trunks or stumps. Their flesh is soft and juicy, quite brittle, white, sour in taste.

The mushroom is inedible. Although some sources say that it can still be eaten, but only the cap and only the young mushroom. True, at the same time it is absolutely tasteless, so it is difficult to say what is better to cook from it.

His hat is gray-brown, rounded, with a depressed center and a tucked edge. Leg - velvety, brownish. The pulp is white, hard.

Also an inedible subspecies. It is considered absolutely useless. The hat can be from 5 to 25 cm in diameter. Its shape is irregular, funnel-shaped with wavy edges. In young specimens they are gray-brown, in mature specimens they are rich brown, almost black.

It contains substances with antibiotic properties and antitumor activity. With its help, they treat pulmonary diseases, relieve fever, and help muscle tissue recover. It is not used in cooking.

Its flesh is thin, whitish, with a bitter taste. Young mushrooms may have a slight aniseed odor. The tubules are short - up to 6 mm long.

Also inedible. Grows on thin fallen branches. Fruits in summer-autumn. The fruit bodies of this subspecies are small. The diameter of the hat is no more than 5 cm. It is fleshy with thin edges, yellow-brown or ocher in color. The leg is long, thin, dark brown or black.

In terms of its medicinal properties, it is similar to the real tinder fungus. It grows on birches, which is why it has such a name. Good as an antispasmodic. Outwardly, it resembles a large brownish kidney. The brown rot it produces "kills" the tree very quickly.

Did you know? This subspecies is used to treat the last stage of cancer, when medications do not work. Birch tinder can stop the growth of metastases and relieve pain. In such cases, 1 tablespoon of mushroom powder is poured into 400 ml of boiling water and boiled for 20 minutes, then filtered and taken 1 tablespoon three times a day.

The mushroom is inedible. Its fruiting body is in the form of lateral caps, often numerous, yellowish in color. Radiant tinder fungi are formed mainly on the trunks of dead alder, as an exception - on birch.

For medicinal purposes, it is used very widely: for the regulation of the functioning of the liver and the rehabilitation of cancer patients, the fungus has hormone-stimulating, immunostimulating and vasodilating effects. It is used in the treatment of alcoholism, and also against the herpes virus.

Hats of this subspecies are usually up to 10 cm in diameter. The top is divided into zones of different colors: white, gray, brown are replaced by blue and almost black.

Another name is motley. Basically, the mushroom is added to ointments against inflammation in the joints, osteochondrosis, arthrosis, varicose veins. It is a distant relative of the oyster mushroom. It differs from it only in that on the underside of the hat it does not have plates, but tubes.

This mushroom is inedible. It can be used for the production of pulp from various wastes, since it contains lactose, which destroys lignin. According to their structure, these are cork mushrooms with a diameter of 3 to 12 cm. Young specimens of a bright cinnabar-red color, but mature ones fade and become almost ocher in color.

This subspecies is inedible. Its second name is fragrant. Its feature is an anise smell. The fruiting body is rusty brown. Often this mushroom grows on deadwood and stumps of coniferous trees.

It is not used in cooking, but in medicine - yes. It has anti-inflammatory, antitumor and antiviral properties.

His hats are flat (sometimes uneven), with a velvety surface, which can become bare with age. Fruiting bodies are sometimes covered with algae, which is why they get a green tint. The pulp looks like a cork - more often white, less often - yellowish.

It contains pigments used in the industry for dyeing. The sewing machine has absolutely no smell and taste. Its spores are white, with a slight olive-yellow tinge or the color of rust.

This subspecies settles on the roots of trees, and sometimes goes shallow into the ground. It looks like a typical so-called soil fungus.

Liverwort

Also known as "mother-in-law's tongue". It is saturated with vitamin C, in 100 g of its pulp - the daily rate of ascorbic acid. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, various vitamins, phosphorus. The young "mother-in-law's tongue" with non-lignified pulp is edible.

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On the trunks of trees, you can sometimes see peculiar growths. They have a different, often quite bizarre shape and picturesque coloring. The townsfolk generally call these growths tinder fungi, sometimes not even realizing that this formation is directly related to fungi.

There are several varieties. Some of them prefer to grow on the trunks of deciduous trees: birch, mountain ash, maple, alder, elm or ash. Birch is a special priority as a place of growth, so the fungus got the name birch tinder fungus, or birch fungus, birch chaga, and more often just chaga. Its biological name is beveled tinder fungus. In the biological name, emphasis is placed on the peculiarity of the structure of its fruiting body. Biologists call the fruiting body the growth that we see on

Birch tinder: structure

At the beginning of growth, the fruiting body of the fungus has a rounded shape. As it grows, it changes, becoming irregular and taking on various bizarre shapes. Creative people use tinder fungi to make souvenirs and various crafts, which is quite justified.

The fruiting body of the birch fungus has a layered structure:

The outer layer of the fungus is painted by nature in brown colors with black tints. The picturesque coloration is enhanced by the resinousness of its outer surface, giving it shine and peculiar bulges or bumps, in place of which cracks form over time.
The middle layer consists of many microscopic tubes located at a slight angle to the outer layer. This angle determines the inclination of the body of the fungus or its obliqueness, reflected in the biological name of the chaga. At the break, this part has a granular structure. At the initial stage of chaga growth, the middle layer has a light, almost white color. Over time, it acquires brown shades and hardens very quickly, becoming similar in structure and hardness to cork.
The inner layer of the birch tinder fungus is distinguished by a reddish-brown color with yellow veins.

Like all mushrooms, the birch tinder fungus reproduces by spores. They ripen on the lower surface of the fruiting body. Spores are carried by the wind and, falling into the cracks in the bark of other trees, quickly germinate.

Sometimes several spores “take root” on one tree, from which fruiting bodies develop. They can be arranged in a cascade, rows, stairs climbing up the trunk.

The zone of infection with birch tinder can be quite large. A plant that "shelters" spores is doomed. Thus, the presence of a birch or other deciduous tree, chaga, on the trunk, despite its external attractiveness, is far from a positive sign. However, despite the destructive properties of the birch fungus, it cannot be called a useless creation of nature.

Medicinal properties of birch fungus

Scientists have discovered a lot of useful substances that birch tinder contains. The properties of the fungus are medicinal, this explains the long-standing use of chaga by folk healers. They used the powdered fruiting body to make tinctures, decoctions, and teas.

These medicinal solutions:

work as choleretic and diuretic;
help restore health to diseased joints;
used in the treatment of female and male diseases;
lotions and compresses treat skin diseases and the effects of frostbite.

Teas and inhalations from birch tinder help to restore the voice, treat inflammation in the larynx.

Infusions stabilize metabolic processes, so they will be useful for those who have declared war on extra pounds or, on the contrary, are trying to get better. In addition, they contribute to the restoration of intestinal microflora, reduce the severity of pain, tone up and increase immunity.

Not so long ago, scientists found that the substances contained in birch tinder inhibit the growth and development of tumor cells, especially at the initial stage of their development. Therefore, chaga tincture is now widely used in oncology.

Features of collecting chaga

For medicinal purposes, only those fruiting bodies of birch chaga are used that have grown on living trees and are not old. The old chaga crumbles.

All mushrooms are able to concentrate harmful substances from the environment. The birch tinder is no exception. Therefore, you should not harvest chaga in ecologically unfavorable places.

The ideal time for picking birch fungus is from early August to late October. At this time, it is maximally saturated with useful substances.

mushroom tincture recipe

For the preparation of alcohol tinctures, birch tinder is used. The recipes are simple and proven for centuries.

Chaga is washed, cleaned, thoroughly dried and ground into a powder.
The powder is placed in alcohol or vodka, using 150 ml of liquid per 5 g.
The solution is kept for two weeks in a cold and dark place.

Tincture is taken in courses of 3-4 months. The duration of admission and the amount of tincture per reception is better to discuss with your doctor.

Do not confuse chaga with other types of tinder fungus. birch is easily confused with other tree fungi, for example, with false or real tinder fungi, which are unsuitable for medicinal purposes.

False tinder fungus also grows on birches. True, he just likes dried, fallen, obsolete trees more. This fact is one of the signals that you have a fake chaga in front of you.

It is easy to recognize by the shape of the fruiting body. It looks like a slightly flattened hoof with a convex upper and flat lower surfaces. The upper surface is soft and velvety, with a pattern: dark brown or brown circles on a gray background.

Another "twin brother" of birch tinder is a real tinder fungus. It has a semicircular shape with a smooth surface of a gray or brown hue. is attached to the tree trunk with its central part and therefore easily, unlike birch chaga, is separated from it.

Nature is generous with nuances. There is no limit to her fantasies, just as there is no limit to the surprise of her wisdom: the undoubted harm of the tinder fungus for trees is fully offset by its benefits.

Beveled tinder fungus in the photo

Beveled tinder fungus, chaga, basidioma: Inonotus obliquus (Pers.: Fr.) Polyporus obliquus (Pers.: Fr.), Boletus obliquus Pers. Annual basidiomas, widely procumbent, developing under the bark, up to 3–4 m long and 40–50 cm wide, soft leathery when fresh, later fibrous and cracking, hard and brittle when dry. The surface of the hymenophore is yellowish-brown, then brown.

The hyphal system of the beveled tinder fungus is monomitic. Spores are ellipsoid, hyaline, yellow with age, often with a drop of lipids 7–10 × 5–7 µm.

The development of a basidioma on the trunk of a living tree is usually preceded by the formation of sterile outgrowths up to 40–50 cm in diameter, jelly-like in shape, woody in texture, brown-brown or yellowish-brown-brown in color with white patches. The surface of the growths is uneven, cracking, black.

Distributed in Western Europe, Asia, North America, Australia.

Found on live and dead hardwood trunks. Causes white rot. Barren form - on living trunks of birch and alder.

Trutovik leafy in the photo

Trutovik leafy. This is one of the largest tinder fungi. Its fruit body reaches 1 m in diameter and weighs up to 20 kg. Appears at the end of summer at the base of trunks and stumps of old deciduous trees, especially oak. It is quite rare and not every year. The fruit body consists of numerous flat, thin, shapeless-wavy caps sitting on branching stumps that merge into a common base.

The caps are fleshy-leathery, wedge-shaped narrowed into a stem. Legs up to 10 cm long and up to 1 cm thick. From above, the caps are yellow-gray or grayish-brown, somewhat lighter towards the base. The underside of the caps is tubular, finely porous, white. The pulp is white, with a strong pleasant smell.

The whole mushroom (cap and legs) is edible, the fourth category. It is used boiled, fried and for the preparation of mushroom powder.

Fruiting bodies grow very quickly. In 8-10 days, they reach 10 kg or more, so even the largest mushrooms have young flesh that is completely usable. Where this tinder fungus grows, the trees are always healthy, since this fruiting body does not settle in the affected areas and is never wormy.

Mushrooms tinder sulfur-yellow and birch

Polypore sulfur-yellow in the photo
The mushroom is edible at a young age

The fungus is sulfur yellow. Fruiting bodies 6-30 cm wide, at first thick cone-shaped, then semicircular or fan-shaped, imbricate, adherent sideways, fleshy, juicy, later dry and brittle, sulfur-yellow when young, later yellow-orange and finally ocher. The light yellow or pale ocher surface of the cap is covered with brown scales. On the underside of the cap are angular and elongated, rather large pores of the hymenophore. The tubular layer below is represented by small sulfur-yellow, later yellow-ocher pores. The pulp of young sulfur-yellow tinder fungi is soft, juicy, brittle, white. The smell is weak, in old tinder fungus it is unpleasant, in young mushrooms it is lemony, the taste is sour.

Grows on trunks and stumps of deciduous and coniferous trees. Fruits in spring.

The description of this tinder fungus is so authentic that it is impossible to confuse it with other mushrooms.

Birch tinder in the photo
The pores are rounded, thick-walled.

Birch tinder. Fruiting bodies 4-20 cm in diameter, convex to almost flattened, 2-6 cm thick. The bark of young fruiting bodies is whitish, later gray, yellowish or pale brown. The fabric is white. The layer of tubules is separated from the tissue. The surface of the hymenophore is white, later turning slightly brown. The spore powder of the birch tinder fungus is white. Spores 4.5-6x1.2-1.5 µm, cylindrical, smooth, colorless.

Growth. It grows on dead, rarely alive, birches.

Fruiting. From July to December.

This is one of those tinder fungi that cause a yellowish-brown or reddish-brown rot of a destructive type, which develops intensively. The wood affected by this tinder fungus quickly collapses and becomes rotten. When infected, rotting first develops in the bark and sapwood, and from there quickly penetrates to the center of the trunk; mushroom caps develop in the last stages of wood decay. In the initial stages of the lesion on transverse cuts, the rot appears as a complete or incomplete peripheral ring of wood with a reddish tinge, gradually turning into reddish-brown or yellowish-brown. Subsequently, cracks in the radial and tangential directions are noticed on the affected wood.

Polypore mushrooms real and winter

Trutovik real in the photo
The surface of a real tinder fungus with grooves

The tinder is real. Fruiting bodies up to 80 cm in diameter and up to 20–30 cm thick, perennial, hoof-shaped, often flat or, conversely, with a convex, almost hemispherical top, sometimes slightly elongated and almost conically narrowed upwards.

The surface of a real tinder fungus with concentric grooves, usually quite deep, at first soft velvety-hairy, then naked, almost smooth, in most cases gray to dark gray and blackish, less often reddish-pale brownish to dark gray-brown, edge obtuse, sometimes thick, grayish-reddish, finely pubescent. The fabric is reddish brown. The tubular layer is whitish, grayish, later grayish-red. Spore powder is white. Spores 14-24x5-8 microns, oblong-ellipsoid, smooth, colorless.

Growth. A real tinder fungus grows throughout the year on stumps, deadwood and deadwood, occasionally on live weakened hardwood trees, mainly beech, birch, alder, poplar.

One of the most common mushrooms in the forests of Eastern Europe. Causes core light yellow rot with black lines and dashes. The decay caused by the fungus is one of the active ones and leads rather quickly to the destruction of the wood in the direction from the sapwood to the heartwood.

Tinder winter in the photo
Spore powder is white.

Trutovik winter. Cap 1-10 cm in diameter, covered with short hairs, glabrous with age, rough, sometimes indistinctly scaly, brownish, often with a yellowish tinge, with a fringed, and later bare margin. Leg 1–3.6x0.2–0.5 cm, eccentric, lateral, occasionally central, glabrous, one-color with a cap, black at the base. The tubular layer is whitish or straw-yellow, brownish when dried. The pulp is white. Spores 7-9x3-4 microns, ellipsoidal, fusiform, smooth, colorless.

Growth. The winter tinder fungus grows on branches, stumps, trunks of deciduous trees saprotrophically.

Fruiting. Appears mainly in autumn, hibernates, and cyorulates in spring.

Usage. The young fruiting bodies of this tinder fungus are edible.

Polypore mushrooms scaly and varnished: photo and description

Trutovik scaly in the photo
The pulp is dense, whitish

Trutovik scaly, pester, hare. The hat is 5-50 cm in diameter, 0.5-10 cm thick, whitish or cream, with large appressed brown scales, making it motley. The edge is usually more or less thin, often folded inwards. Leg 4-8x1-4 cm, whitish-cream, almost black at the base. The tubular layer is white. The flesh is whitish, with a pleasant powdery smell and taste. Spore powder is white. Spores 10-14x4–5(6) µm, oblong-ellipsoidal, smooth, colorless.

Growth. It grows on living and dead trunks and branches of fruit and broad-leaved trees.

Usage. Conditionally edible mushroom only at a young age (old mushrooms are tough).

Polypore varnished in the photo
reddish-purple hat

Trutovik varnished. Basidiomas are annual or 2-3-year-old with a hat and a stem. The cap is up to 25 cm in diameter and 1–3 cm thick, semicircular or kidney-shaped, covered with a shiny, as if varnished, reddish, then reddish-purple, dark red or chestnut-brown and, finally, almost black crust. Leg up to 15x1–2 cm, sometimes short, eccentric, less often lateral, covered with the same crust as the hat, the same color with the hat or almost black. Tubules 0.5–2 cm long, ocher with small and rounded pores.

As can be seen in the photo, in the lacquered tinder fungus, the surface of the tubular layer is whitish, creamy, then turns brown, and darkens when pressed:

The pulp is spongy-corky, hardening, white or light reddish. The hyphal system is trimitic. Spores 8–13x5.5–7.5 µm, ovate or almost oval, truncate at the apex, warty.

The area where this tinder fungus grows in Russia is very wide. It is distributed in the Far East (Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, Jewish Autonomous, Amur, Sakhalin, Magadan and Kamchatka Regions), in the European part, in the Urals, in Siberia; outside Russia - in Europe, Asia, North Africa, North America.

It grows in deciduous, mixed and coniferous forests on stumps and deadwood of spruce, fir, larch, birch, in July - August, in small groups and singly. The mushroom has medicinal properties. It is grown in culture for food and medicinal purposes, maintained in pure culture in collections in many countries of the world, as well as in Russia.

limiting factors. Human economic activity, leading to the removal of deadwood, deforestation, forest fires.

Trutovik branched in the photo
Caps are leathery and fleshy

Trutovik branched. The fruit body is up to 50 cm in height, up to 40 cm in diameter and weighing up to 10 kg in a fresh state, consists of a central re-branching stem and numerous (up to 100) small flat caps. Hats are leathery-fleshy, 4-10 cm in diameter, on lateral legs, with an uneven radially wrinkled walnut-colored surface. Pores up to 1 mm in diameter. The central leg of the branched tinder fungus is short and thick, the secondary legs of various thicknesses are flat, grayish-cream after drying. The flesh is white, the color does not change at the break, with a pleasant smell and folded taste. Spore powder is white. Spores 7–10x2.5–4 µm, fusiform, smooth, colorless.

Causes white core rot with numerous small cavities that eventually fill with a white, cotton-like clump of mycelium.

Fruiting. From July to October.

Usage. Good edible mushroom.

Trutovik umbrella. In Russia, it is found in the European part, the Caucasus, Siberia and the Far East. Outside of Russia, it is distributed in Europe, Asia and North America.

Polypore fungus with large fruiting bodies, up to 50 cm in diameter, consisting of numerous branched, clearly visible legs, connected at the base into a common tuberous stump and bearing small caps. The caps are rounded, with a depression in the center, light ocher or brownish, smooth, on the lower surface they bear a tubular hymenophore sloping onto a stem. The pulp is white, dense, fleshy, with the smell of dill. Tubes are white, short. The stump and legs are white, cream or yellowish. Spores are colorless, smooth, cylindrical or fusiform, 7-10 x 3-4 microns. Causes white rot. Fruiting bodies are formed in July-August, but not annually.

It develops in broad-leaved and coniferous-broad-leaved forests at the base of trunks and stumps of deciduous trees (maple, oak, etc.), as an exception - conifers.

It is protected in the Kichmengsko-Gorodetsky nature reserve. It is necessary to search for new localities of the species and include them in the number of specially protected objects. The species is listed in the Red Books of the RSFSR and the Moscow Region.

Here you can see photos of edible and inedible tinder mushrooms, the description of which is presented on this page:

Conditionally edible mushroom Trutovik scaly in the photo

Edible mushroom "winter" in the photo

Tinder fungi changeable and sheep

Polypore changeable in the photo
The skin is smooth, golden yellow or light brown

The fungus is changeable. The cap is 3–8 cm in diameter, regularly rounded or tongue-shaped, depressed at the point of attachment of the stem, often with a margin divided into lobes. The skin is golden yellow or light brown, with fine radial fibers at maturity. The tubular layer is descending, white or light cream in color. The pulp is hard, white or brown, the taste is mild, the smell is mushroom.

Leg. Diameter 0.5–1 cm, short, eccentric, lateral or central, light brown, eventually almost black.

Spore powder. White.

Habitat. On dead hardwood.

Season. Spring - autumn.

similarity. At a young age, the variable tinder fungus looks like a scaly tinder fungus, but the cap of P. squamosus is covered with large scales.

Use. The mushroom is not poisonous, but because of the hard pulp it is not eaten.

Trutovik sheep in the photo
Albatrellus sheep in the photo

Sheep tinder fungus, Sheep albatrellus, Sheep rudd. Hat up to 12 cm in diameter, convex or flat, smooth or fissured. Color whitish or yellowish. Small tubules are white or yellowish, turn yellow when pressed. The pulp of young mushrooms is juicy, white, with a pleasant smell and taste, while the pulp of old mushrooms is dry, bitter.

Leg. The height of the sheep tinder fungus is 2–7 cm, diameter is up to 4 cm, central or eccentric, solid, white.

Spore powder. White.

Habitat. In coniferous forests, forms mycorrhiza with spruce.

Season. Summer autumn.

similarity. With albatrellus merging (A. confluens), which has fawn or ocher hats and forms close groups, and also grows under various conifers.

Use. All types of albatrellus are edible, but have tough flesh.

Below you can find photos, descriptions and videos of other tinder fungi.

Trutoviki bordered and bristly: photo, video and description

Trutovik bordered in the photo
"Wood sponge" in the photo

Trutovik bordered, or woody sponge. The fruit body varies greatly in shape, size and color. It can be hoof-shaped, cantilever, horseshoe-shaped. The outer surface is hard, covered with a thick crust, shiny from resinous substances, on which concentric zones are located. Young bordered polypores are orange-yellow or red-brown, later the color becomes dark gray, blackish. The presence of a border along the edge, which differs in color, is characteristic. The edge is dull. Pores pale yellow. The flesh is white or yellowish-buff, the smell is sour.

Spore powder is light cream.

Habitat. On dead trunks of coniferous, rarely deciduous trees; almost never found on live trunks.

Season. During the whole year.

similarity. Young fruiting bodies can be confused with varnished tinder fungus (Ganoderma lucidum), which is distinguished by the presence of a stem and growth on hardwoods.

Use. Inedible.

Trutovik bristly in the photo
Skin creamy yellow

Trutovik bristly. A cap with a diameter of 2-10 cm, in the form of a semicircle or a circle, depressed in the center. The skin is creamy yellow, densely covered with scales of darker tones. The tubules are short, descending, fawn or ocher-cream.

As you can see in the photo, this edible tinder fungus has white, hard flesh:

The taste is sweet, the smell is pleasant.

Leg. Height 5–6 cm, diameter up to 1.5 cm, eccentric, fawn, covered with white bristles.

Spore powder. White.

Habitat. On dead branches of deciduous trees.

Season. Spring.

Use. Edible at a young age.

Watch the video "Tinder Mushrooms" to better understand how and where they grow:

The tinder fungus was seen by every resident of Russia live or at least in the photo. These are the same growths on trees that are found both in mixed forests of the middle belt and in old spruce forests. It turns out that this is not a useless mushroom at all. It is even edible and is used in cooking and traditional medicine. After studying the description of its various types, you can learn about the medicinal properties and use of the tinder fungus.

Polypore sheep

This species is known as sheep mushroom. Of all the tinder fungi, it most of all looks like a classically shaped mushroom: a fleshy round cap with a folded edge and a short thick leg. Useful components in the composition:

griffolin;
grifolinon;
neogrifolin;
scootigeral;
ovinal;
ovinol, etc.

Sheep polypore is actively used in folk and traditional medicine. Water and alcohol infusions, powders and extracts are made from young and mature fruits. They help to deal with such problems:

Trutovik is actively used in folk medicine

Sarcoma and development of cancer cells.
Staphylococcus aureus.
Hay stick.
Elevated cholesterol.
Pain.

Young sheep mushroom is also used in cooking. It is pickled and salted, dried and even eaten fresh.

Attention! Sheep polypore should not be eaten by people with gastrointestinal upset.

Polypore scaly

In the people, this mushroom is known under the names of the hare, pest, elm. Outwardly, they look like oyster mushrooms. Pestrets is a mushroom with a scaly beige or cream cap, which can reach 60 cm in diameter. Its flesh is dense, light, it smells good and tastes good. The hare leg is short, curved, velvety to the touch. Useful components in the composition:

lecithin;
vitamins A, B, B1, F, D and H.

Polypore scaly

In traditional medicine, it is used to create drugs to stimulate the gallbladder. In folk medicine, ointments are made from scaly tinder, with the help of which they treat:

Osteochondrosis;
arthrosis;
Phlebeurysm.

In cooking, it is better to use only young people. This mushroom can be added to soups and sauces. Also, the pestry is pickled, salted, dried.

Polypore umbrella

Also known as the tinder fungus - this name was not accidental. Its fruit tree has many small branches with a small thin cap at the tip. It seems that one large mushroom has many, many small branches. This type of tinder contains:

vitamins;
trace elements;
polysaccharides;
active enzymes;
ergosterol;
biotin.

Polypore umbrella

In folk and traditional medicine, both the ground part of the fungus and the underground part are used. It is used like:

Immunostimulator.
Diuretic.
Antioxidant.
Medicine for cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis.
Antibacterial and antiviral agent: to combat staphylococcus aureus, chlamydia, malaria.
Means for the fight against malignant tumors.
Anti-radiation agent.
Hair growth stimulator.

In cooking, the mushroom is dried, pickled, salted.

Tinder fungus

This mushroom can be found on old semi-dry trees and stumps. Because of its appearance, this tinder fungus is also called the rough-haired sponge. He has a large rough hat, very reminiscent of a sponge. The young mushroom has a yellow or grayish color, with age its cap becomes brown with a green tint. The pulp of this tinder fungus is bitter, with an aniseed smell.

Tinder fungus

Like other types of tinder fungus, the stiff hair fungus is used in the treatment of cancer. In addition, it accelerates muscle regeneration, helps treat lung diseases, relieves fever. But in cooking, the hard-haired tinder fungus is not used.

Trutovik humpbacked

This type of tinder fungus grows on a tree. His velvety hat looks like a semicircle with a greenish tinge. Its flesh is dense, similar to a white or yellow cork.

Trutovik humpbacked

Trutovik humpback in its composition has useful polysaccharides that strengthen blood vessels. Also, this fungus is part of the drugs for sarcoma, carcinoma, throat cancer and leukemia. Modern research shows the detrimental effect of this type of tinder fungus on the AIDS virus.

Attention! The tinder fungus is not eaten.

Mushrooms are a specific product with which a person always needs to be careful. But if you study the tinder fungus well, you can use all its beneficial properties for the benefit of health.

Useful properties of tinder fungus: video

Trutovik: photo

The tinder fungus can be found on old stumps, on trees, on deadwood, deadwood. This is the most amazing object of the entire mushroom kingdom. It is attached to trees by a lateral leg or fruiting body. It can be woody and gristly to the touch, depending on the species.

The people call this mushroom - "devil's hoof".

Variety of types and forms

The classification of tinder fungi is based on the order in which the basidia are arranged. Based on this, fungi are divided into hymenomycetes and gasteromycetes. There are several tinder families:

porium,
coniophoric,
polyporous,
telephonic.

The tinder fungus is a perennial mushroom, but annual representatives can also be found. Annual species grow mainly from June to September. At the end of summer, they begin to break down, turning into food for insects. Perennial species do not immediately form a fruiting body. This process takes several months or even years.

The tinder fungus has impressive dimensions - from 20 cm to 1 m. Weight - from 1 kg to 20 kg. The mushroom can have very different colors: gray, brown, orange, black, red, yellow, etc.

The surface of the fungus is very similar to the bark. It can be smooth, velvety and even hairy.

The species diversity of mushrooms is huge. The most popular among them:

sheep,
smoky,
confluent,
singed,
bordered,
varnished,
birch,
chestnut,
winter,
oak,
odorous,
vase-like,
scaly,
multicolored.

Photo of tinder fungi

Description of the structure of the fruiting body

Trutovik has an unusual structure. The body of the fungus is very resistant to various influences: water, heat, frost.

Thin threads, hyphae, intertwined with each other, form the body of the fungus. Mycelium or mycelium is hidden deep in the trunk of a tree. Hyphae penetrate the tree bark by releasing enzymes that easily dissolve the cell membranes of woody tissue anywhere. The hyphae range from the thinnest and filiform to the skeletal and thick. By shape, the fruiting bodies are divided into:

sessile (only one side is attached to the substrate, sometimes they have a lateral leg);
prostrate (they look like a plate or cake, tightly adherent to a tree, the color and surface of which often resembles the bark of a tree);
having a hat and a leg.

May differ within the same genus or family.

The tinder fungus uses wood as a substrate.

Optimal living conditions

For some types of tinder fungi, it is typical to live only on deciduous trees, while for others - only on coniferous ones. Light, humidity and temperature are of great importance for the growth and development of the fungus. Without light, the mycelium can grow quietly inside the tree, but the fruiting body cannot do without it. Humidity helps the growth of tinder fungus, which like to settle where there is dampness: in cellars, earthen shelters, wells and other premises.

The tinder fungus feeds on wood. In order for the beneficial substances to fully saturate the mushroom, they must first be dissolved. Enzymes help in this process, converting insoluble compounds into soluble ones. Under the action of fungal enzymes on wood, especially on cellulose, rot (red and brown) is formed.

The consequence of the nutrition of the fungus is the appearance of "charm" on the tree. In other words, there is a "suffocation" of wood. Such rot is caused by a real tinder fungus.

Its wood feeding cycle can be divided into the following stages:

browning of the ends of the log;
"podpar" (appearance of white stripes);
"marble rot" (the wood becomes completely soft).

Mushroom reproduction

The tinder fungus reproduces with the help of spores. These are special cells that are located on special formations - basidia. They are located in groups (4 each) on the lower part of the fungus along the edge of small tubes that are tightly fused together. This tubular surface is called a hymenophore.

In these tubules, spores mature and spill out. With the help of the wind, they are carried from place to place. Getting to a favorable place (on a tree), they begin reproduction.

The bark of trees often has mechanical damage: insect passages, sunburn, frost holes. The spores of the fungus get into these wounds. Growing they form a mycelium, which branches along the bark of a tree and destroys it.