Birch Polypore

Birch Polypore — Fomitopsis betulina 

Interesting Facts

• Host specific: It grows almost exclusively on birch trees — rarely on any other species — and is one of the most common fungi found on both silver and downy birch across the UK.

• Iceman's friend: Two thousand‑year‑old specimens were found with Ötzi the Iceman, carried presumably for its medicinal properties — it has long been used as a styptic to stop bleeding and as a remedy for stomach ailments.

• Razor strop fungus: Its tough, leathery flesh was once cut into strips and used by barbers to strop and sharpen straight razors — hence its old nickname "Razor Strop Fungus". It shrinks as it dries and stays rigid, making it surprisingly useful.

• Persistent and tough: The brackets can live for several years, adding a new layer of growth each season. They are remarkably resilient — you can find old, hard brackets still attached to dead birch trunks long after the tree has fallen.

• Not edible — but useful: It's too woody and bitter to eat, but slices were traditionally used as tinder, dried and lit to carry fire, since it smoulders slowly like charcoal. It also makes excellent kindling when dry.

• Decomposer par excellence: It causes a white rot in birch wood, breaking down the tough lignin that few other organisms can digest — one of the key agents that recycles birch trees back into the soil.