Tinder fungi (Latin Fomes fomentarius) are perennial parasitic fungi that prefer to grow on trees. You rarely see them on earth. They like old stumps and trees, deadwood, dead wood. This is the most mysterious and unusual representative of the mushroom kingdom. At first glance - a completely useless, parasitic object. But, in fact, polypore can be extremely useful.
Features tinder
Pipes represent an unsystematic and poorly studied group of fungi that belongs to the department of basidiomycetes. About 1.5 thousand species are known. There are poisonous and edible polypores, woody and cartilaginous. The mushroom body of all the fungi is extremely resistant to any weather influences - cold, heat, moisture.
Pipes are attached to the body of the tree with the entire fruiting body or only with the leg - depending on the type. For its original form, the mushroom is popularly called the “devil's hoof”.
The mushroom body is formed by thin threads - hyphae intertwined. The mycelium is submerged deep into the woody body. To penetrate the bark, hyphae secrete enzymes that dissolve the cell walls of wood. Hyphae, at first thin and filiform, turn into skeletal.
Depending on the shape of the fruiting body, the fungi are divided into:
- Sedentary. They are attached to the wood on one side. May have a side leg.
- Prostrate. They look like a thin cake, tightly rooted to the trunk. The color and structure resemble wood bark.
- With a hat and a leg.
The weight of the mushroom body is from 1 to 20 kg. Size - from 20 cm to 200 cm in diameter. They can be gray, red, black, orange, yellow - there are many shades.
When and where does it grow?
The habitat depends on the type of tinder. So sulfur-yellow (conditionally edible) tinder, prefers places with a mild climate. But the real tinder fungus is widely distributed throughout Russia and Europe. He loves to grow on birches and pines, he can also be found on alder, oak, beech, and other trees.
On the one hand, saprophyte negatively affects the environment. By causing the white rot of wood tissue, it makes it brittle. Usually it affects dead wood, since the main way of infection of a tree with fungus is:
- broken branches;
- cracks and other damage to the cortex.
Parasitic mushrooms are real orderlies in the forest. They destroy old wood that died as a result of windbreak, drought or other adverse effects. Decaying tree enriches the soil.
Pipes for pharmaceutical and food purposes are recommended to be collected:
- during spring sap flow;
- in the fall - the mushroom, preparing for the winter, is stocked with useful substances.
Do not take tinder pants:
- growing on dry;
- growing near the ground.
Mushrooms located as high as possible are preferable. Mushrooms are cut with a well-ground knife or an ax. If the mushroom body crumbles, it is not suitable for collection.
Varieties
For tinder, in mushroom science, a special classification is provided. They are divided into:
- hymenomycetes - their mycelium is in the substrate, for example, in wood or soil;
- Gasteromycetes - their fruiting bodies are completely closed.
Among the tinder, several families are distinguished:
- porous;
- polypore;
- telephoric;
- coniophore.
Pipers, mainly perennials, but there are annual representatives. They grow throughout the summer - from June to September. At the end of summer, annuals are gradually destroyed and become insect food.
The body of a perennial grows for months, or even years. On the annual rings you can find out how many months or years of tinder. The mushroom is distinguished by species diversity. Consider the most famous and common varieties of polypore.
Edible tinder
Among the tinder species there are edible and inedible species. The latter - the vast majority. There are no poisonous varieties among tinder growers. You can’t poison the pulp of tinder funders, it’s just that many representatives of the group are extremely tough. And the taste of these mushrooms is not impressive.
Going into the forest, carefully study the appearance of edible fungi. Among them there are several rather delicious specimens - they are used in cooking.
Sulfur yellow tinder
Refers to conditionally edible, and the toxins contained in it can cause poisoning. “Young growth” is used as food - their pulp is much more tender than that of an old-timer.
Only young sulfur-yellow tinderpods growing on deciduous trees are suitable for food. There should be no dark spots on their hats.
Cut mushroom bodies can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. They can also be frozen for a whole year. So that the product does not deteriorate, you need a temperature of at least minus 18 ° C.
In the video you can see how the sulfur-yellow tinder fungus with onions and dill is fried in forest conditions. The recipe is visual, step by step. The author of the video also offers other ways to make a tinder fungus:
Scaly
He prefers to grow on deciduous trees, especially likes elms. Its yellowish-gray fruit body is covered with brownish speckles-flakes. Scaly polypants grow one by one. They have thick black legs. At a young age they are suitable for food - they are pickled, salted, dried, added to sauces and soups. Traditional medicine uses them to produce drugs that stimulate the gallbladder.
Liverwort
It can be found on oaks. The form resembles a language. The body is fleshy, as if saturated with red liquid. Growth time - from July to frost. In a section - marble drawing. Used at a young age - for salting.
Umbrella
It resembles a large lace bouquet. The color of the hat is brown. There is a multi-colored border. Stripes can be of different colors - black, beige, lemon, orange. Umbrella panties are popular in China. Here it is often served as a main course.
Winter
It grows on stumps, on trunks near the ground. Prefers alder, mountain ash, willow. Growth begins in the spring. It grows to frost. The shape of the hat is convex. Color - from yellowish to grayish. White flesh is good for food. Usually used for drying.
Sheep
More than others, it looks like a mushroom in a classic representation. His fleshy round hat has bent edges. The leg is short, thick. Applied in traditional medicine and pharmacology. Young fruits are used for the preparation of powders, extracts, infusions - water and alcohol. In its young form it is used for food. Sheep tinder can be pickled, dried, salted.
Inedible tinder
Inedible tinder fungi are not deadly, but can cause unpleasant symptoms:
- an allergic reaction;
- intoxication of the body with the corresponding symptoms - vomiting, dizziness, nausea.
Many tinder workers, including inedible ones, are actively used in medicine - medical preparations are prepared from them. Any use of mushrooms should be preceded by consultation with a physician.
Birch
Likes to grow on dead birch trunks. His body is convex, gray-white. It has a lot of amino acids and trace elements. This was appreciated by microorganisms and insects, generously laying larvae in the fungus. Pharmacology uses mushroom polymers isolated from this fungus to produce a dietary supplement for diabetics.
The video talks about the birch tinder fungus, its diverse application (medicine) and other useful properties. The blogger first-hand shows how to use it correctly:
Beveled
It is also called chaga. It grows on birches, alder, mountain ash. The body is solid, woody. The shape is irregular, the surface is rough. Color - dark brown or black. On a section - white streaks. Chaga is used in medicine - for decoctions and infusions.
Hairy
Prefers stumps and semi-dry trees. The hat is large and rough, looks like a sponge. At a young age, it has a yellowish or grayish color, with growth it becomes brown with a greenish tint. The taste of pulp is unpleasant - bitter, gives anise.
Humpbacked
The hat has the shape of a semicircle. The hue is greenish. The pulp is dense - white or yellow. The surface of the hat is velvety. The fungus strengthens blood vessels. It is part of the drugs that treat sarcoma, throat cancer, leukemia. Recent studies have shown that the humpbacked tinder fungus is detrimental to the AIDS virus.
Larch (real)
Grows on larch, fir, cedar. Has a thick fruiting body. Length - 30 cm. Coloring - white or yellow. The surface is rough. There are furrows and brown spots. Young - soft, later - hard, crumbling. The taste is bitter.
Lacquered (Reishi)
Unique mushroom properties. It is actively used to treat oncology and the cardiovascular system. It is in demand in traditional medicine.
Why are polypore dangerous for trees?
Pipers are parasites; they use trees as a food supply. Sucking nutrients and water from wood, they slowly kill it. It takes several years until the plant, exhausted by parasitic fungi, loses its strength and strength - it becomes dry. A small hurricane is enough to break a fragile tree. But the funders do not care about such a development of events - they continue to drink juices from a tree felled by a windbreak.
Killer mushrooms fulfill an important mission in the forest - they make way for new trees. Peculiar orderlies of the forest. But in orchards grown by humans, fungus must be fought mercilessly.
How to deal with tinder funders?
There are no drugs that can cure trees from infection with tinder fungi. The only method of struggle is the total destruction of trees affected by the fungus. The essence of the fight is cutting off the parasites from the infected part of the tree. The wood with mushrooms is burned, and the cut is disinfected.
What affects tinder fungus growth?
Pipes live, both on dead and living trees. Ideal growing conditions for tinder funders:
- A certain type of tree - depends on the variety of tinder fungus. Some like conifers, others like deciduous.
- The fruiting body needs light.
- High humidity promotes growth. Truff are not in vain looking for wet places - cellars, earthen shelters, wells.
The more nutritious the wood, the more minerals in it, the faster the parasite mushroom grows, and the faster it kills its owner.
In adverse conditions - inappropriate humidity, temperature, pressure, tinder fungi stop growing. This feature is taken into account by gardeners in the fight against parasitic fungi.
The value and benefits of the mushroom
The chemical composition of many tinderboxes is poorly understood. Scientists have discovered antitumor substances in the composition of these mushrooms, so now their composition is being actively studied. In tinder bodies, one can find "deposits" of potassium, calcium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, lead, cadmium, and germanium. The collection of polypants intended for medicinal or food (if the species is edible) purposes is not recommended to be carried out near roads and near industrial zones.
The people call the mushroom forest chicken - for its unusual shape and nutritional value. 100 g of the fruiting body contains 22 kcal. 100 g of mushroom contains:
- protein - 3.09 g;
- fats - 0.34 g;
- carbohydrates - 3.26 g;
- water - 92.45 g.
And:
- cellulose;
- resinous substances;
- B vitamins;
- minerals;
- lipids;
- amino acids.
Medical use
Pants are valued primarily as a remedy. Mushrooms are used for external and internal use. From them are prepared:
- alcohol tinctures;
- decoctions;
- dry powders - for dissolution in water.
Pipers help break down fats, remove radionuclides, carcinogens and poisons from the body, restore the digestive system, treat constipation, and kill bacteria that cause gastritis.
Each tinderbox has certain properties, therefore, specific types of tinderware are used to treat certain diseases.
Growing
All the fungus spores reproduce - they are located on the basidia. Groups of spores, ripening in tubes, densely fused together, spill out. By wind, they are carried away to new habitats. Once on fertile soil - old or damaged wood, they begin to reproduce. A mycelium forms, which, branching along the tree bark, destroys it.
Growing on a substrate
Pipes are easy to cultivate. Grow them in a substrate. To prepare it you need:
- sawdust;
- shavings;
- bark of small branches.
As a substrate, stumps and wooden bars can be used. Having made holes with a drill, they put the mycelium in them.
Mycelial Bookmarking Procedure:
- The mixture is poured with boiling water.
- When the temperature of the substrate drops to room temperature, it is squeezed and mixed with mycelium.
- They are laid out in plastic bags.
- Having made slots in the bags, place them in a room where the humidity is 80%. Lighting - natural, temperature - 20 ° C.
- Harvest will be ready after 30-40 days.
Growing on stumps
Instead of the substrate, you can use stumps and wooden bars. Disembarkation Procedure:
- Wood is kept in water.
- On the soaked wood, the right amount of cuts is made - they are cut out or drilled.
- In the incisions made, the mycelium is laid.
- Wooden bars are placed in a shady place and covered with foliage.
"Crops" are watered from time to time, this is especially important in a drought. The first mushrooms will appear in 4 months.
Pipers - a real gift of nature. Do not take them negatively - in nature there is nothing superfluous, and fungal mushrooms are only part of the cycle of substances. Pipers are priceless for pharmacology and a real treasure for medicine. And the edible mushrooms of this family are also excellent meat substitutes.
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