As this isn't a blog just about mosses, I figured I would do an entry on another species we spotted at Abbot's Moss -- the Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus). This is a bracket fungus also called birch bracket or razor strop and grows almost exclusively on birch trees. It's necrotrophic, meaning that it's a fungus that kills its host (in this case, the host descends into brown rot after). This is actually in the name of the fungus; Pipto is a Greek word with a few meanings including "to fail", "to fall from power by death" and "to perish, i.e come to an end" (Greek Lexicon online). Therefore, if you see this mushroom on a tree, you know that tree is either dying or dead. Literally, the name basically means "porous birch decliner."
They're pretty easy to spot too -- firstly, they'll be on the dead birch trees, especially silver birch. Secondly, the cap folds over to make a smooth rim around the pore surface (no gills here!). The top surface is whitish-brownish-grayish. The fungus itself is has a whitish pore surface which will go a brownish-grey with age; it also has between 2-4 pores per millimetre. I was able to get a picture of one from my walk in Dyson Woods (unfortunately the ones at Abbot Moss were quite high up) -- the one below felt really quite rubbery, but as they age they feel much more like cork. This one is a bit slug eaten:
They smell quite mushroomy and technically it's edible but it's really quite bitter apparently (I take it as a hint that if someone says "technically edible" then it's not really). It's got some interesting historical (and current) uses though. When I did my insect ID course, we used strips of this stuff to mount the tiniest of insects with the tiniest of pins. Older mushrooms would also make pretty good slow match tinder.
Outside of that, it's called "razor strop" because people used to (and still do) use rectangles of the dried mushroom as a strop. Apparently you can cut out a rectangle, dry it on a radiator and just sharpen your knives with it -- it creates its own abrasive. You'd be wanting to use the top surface of the mushroom for that. The underside of the mushroom (the porous side) can also be cut thin and used as micropore plasters when the mushroom is fresh. So, it sharpens and mitigates against the invariable cuts!
Medicinally, it contains anti-inflammatory compounds and has anti-bacterial properties. It's also been discovered in the possession of Otzi the Iceman -- Europe's oldest mummy at 5,000 years old. He'd been suffering from whipworm before his death and this mushroom contains polyporenic acid -- a compound that is toxic to this particular parasite. It is not unreasonable to suspect he was using it as medicine, but how on Earth the connection between this mushroom and those symptoms was made is anyone's guess!
They're pretty easy to spot too -- firstly, they'll be on the dead birch trees, especially silver birch. Secondly, the cap folds over to make a smooth rim around the pore surface (no gills here!). The top surface is whitish-brownish-grayish. The fungus itself is has a whitish pore surface which will go a brownish-grey with age; it also has between 2-4 pores per millimetre. I was able to get a picture of one from my walk in Dyson Woods (unfortunately the ones at Abbot Moss were quite high up) -- the one below felt really quite rubbery, but as they age they feel much more like cork. This one is a bit slug eaten:
They smell quite mushroomy and technically it's edible but it's really quite bitter apparently (I take it as a hint that if someone says "technically edible" then it's not really). It's got some interesting historical (and current) uses though. When I did my insect ID course, we used strips of this stuff to mount the tiniest of insects with the tiniest of pins. Older mushrooms would also make pretty good slow match tinder.
Outside of that, it's called "razor strop" because people used to (and still do) use rectangles of the dried mushroom as a strop. Apparently you can cut out a rectangle, dry it on a radiator and just sharpen your knives with it -- it creates its own abrasive. You'd be wanting to use the top surface of the mushroom for that. The underside of the mushroom (the porous side) can also be cut thin and used as micropore plasters when the mushroom is fresh. So, it sharpens and mitigates against the invariable cuts!
Medicinally, it contains anti-inflammatory compounds and has anti-bacterial properties. It's also been discovered in the possession of Otzi the Iceman -- Europe's oldest mummy at 5,000 years old. He'd been suffering from whipworm before his death and this mushroom contains polyporenic acid -- a compound that is toxic to this particular parasite. It is not unreasonable to suspect he was using it as medicine, but how on Earth the connection between this mushroom and those symptoms was made is anyone's guess!
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