Chaga mushroom

Wow!!!! Chaga is usually consider a northern boreal species that inhabits birch trees. Do you know what type of tree it is growing on?

OK. I had to look this up. Couldn't find any reference to chaga growing anywhere close to the Canary Islands. So I asked google what could be mistaken for chaga. The answer: "Phellinus linteus" or the Black Knot Fungus aka Meshima. The pic I looked at, looked exactly like the one in your pic @jowitt.europe. It grows on very old elm, mulberry and willow species.

This fungus is a lymphatic cleanser and is used to treat hypohidrosis and breast cancer among a list of other symptoms and conditions. So it seems to have some similar actions to chaga.

Chage is difficult to harvest and I would think this species is similar. They tend to grow high enough up in trees that it is hard to reach them without a ladder. A saw and axe or chisel are required for harvest so as not to damage the tree. Its very hard and should be cut up right away before it dries out and gets any harder. Usually it is ground up til it is the consistency of coarse coffee grounds and then processed into tinctures.

This is a pic of chaga from my part of the world. They look so similar! Yours is a bit more developed than this one.

I think @judsoncarroll4 is going to do a monograph for us on chaga. Maybe he could include a comparison with this Black Knot fungus.

I am very much enjoying learning about plants from other parts of the world. Its so awesome to have such a diverse group of people to exchange with.

@LaurieLovesLearning There is some debate about the chaga fungus regrowing.

In my experience, the birch are very old when the fungus develops enough to emerge as the sclera. We are going through a phase of birch die off here, so the chaga doesn't seem to get a chance to continue to grow. It is close to the end of life for the tree. I rarely get back into an area where I have harvested, to see if there is further conk development.

However, I have read that you should be careful when harvesting the sclera so that it can continue to grow. Either way, I wouldn't cut enough of it off to harm any part of the wood of a healthy living tree.

I try to find logging blocks where the birch are going to be cut anyway and harvest the chaga from those plots. Not all loggers are going to tell you about it but my daughter works for a logging company so she can let me know when they are going to be in an area with chaga on the birch.

When I have found chaga it seems to inhabit most of the trees in that particular area. As the mycelium is creeping underground from tree to tree, if you harvest some you are likely to find it again. If not on the same tree, then another tree in the grove.