Mushrooms That Grow Out of a White Birch Tree Trunk

Mushrooms on Living Birch

• Despite its name, the oak root fungus is found on almost every deciduous and coniferous tree. It forms clusters of cream-colored shelf mushrooms with no stalks. The artist's conk fungus invades trees through wounds and has large, semicircular shelf mushrooms that are dark brown on top and white on the bottom. Varnish fungus rots are large, flat, semicircular mushrooms that are glossy red. Oyster mushrooms are large, platelike and cream colored. The common split gill mushroom is small and grayish-white and looks like a ruffled semicircle. Turkey tail is a semicircular, flat mushroom with distinct bands of colors ranging from tan to brown and red.

Mushrooms on Dead Birch

• The sulfur fungus can actually be found on dead or living trees. It is a broad, ruffled shelf mushroom in colors ranging from yellow to orange-yellow. The parchment fungus rarely invades living trees and is rough, shelflike and deeply ruffled. It is deep brown near the wood with a band of lighter brown at its outer margin. The hairy turkey tail mushroom is found on the dead wood of living trees. For example, limbs or branches damaged by fire can host the hairy turkey tail. They are velvety and shelflike and form bands of buff, gray and white.

Edible Mushrooms on Birch

• Some of the mushrooms growing on tree trunks, limbs or roots can be collected and eaten either cooked or raw. The chaga mushroom looks like a blackened lump of charred wood and is yellow to brown when cut open. The birch polypore is tan to light brown, stalkless and shell shaped with a smooth edge. The tinder polypore is described by the U.S. Forest Service as hoof-shaped and woody. It has a white, conical upper portion near the tree that is rimmed with yellow at its lower edge.

Precautions

• Mushroom identification can be extremely complicated. Many mushrooms that are highly toxic look similar to edible varieties. If you want to go mushroom hunting, the U.S. Forest Service recommends joining a mushroom enthusiast group with experts to aid you in identification. When you go mushroom hunting, keep detailed notes about when and where you found your specimen and collect as much of it as possible. This includes the cap and stalk if they are present. When you eat mushrooms, leave one uneaten. In the event of an accidental poisoning, emergency personnel can treat you more effectively if they know what you ate.