Birch Polypore - A Top Shelf Medicinal Mushroom

In this video we discuss the medicinal and other uses for Piptoporus Betulinus or Birch Polypore I found while hiking around Susies Lake in the Blue Mountain Birch Cove Wilderness Area

[@johnnyhighwoods1780]

Thank you for the clear content and information. The no nonsense and no background music/ noise made your video top notch! From our farm between the Catskills and Hudson River , Thanks! Farmer John. ps.we make many tinctures and oils from medicinal plants and the polypor is a dandy!

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thank you for your kind words. The polypore is pretty much the same stay of my medicinal mushrooms. Thanks for commenting

[@PineMartyn]

Very informative, and above all, not overstating the reputed medicinal properties of this natural material. I appreciate how responsible you are in relating it's merits. Thanks. - Martin

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thanks Martin. I struggled a little with just how to frame the info. Glad you enjoyed it

[@jacqueline7118]

Wonderful video Mark, very informative and educational. Thanks very much for sharing. Looking forward to some more videos.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thanks Jackie. Two more in the works now

[@dpell3543]

Thank you, very good information. I particularly appreciated the band aid demonstration.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

One of my older videos when I first started my channel. I am glad the information is still relevant. I have an update video on the subject I will be releasing shortly. Thanks for commenting

[@shesails3313]

Thank you Mark great video! I learned a lot. I found this wonderful polypore today in Traverse City Michigan and took two. Mine are older but I think I will still make a tea with them.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Older polypores are usually still good but check to make sure there are no bugs boring through it. It is highly likely that the same tree will have fresh polypores on it next fall. Thanks for commenting...oh...the tea can be a bit bitter...helps to add honey

[@keithlapere7650]

There is abundance of what mother nature gives us out there. Great to do research on wild edibles and medicinal. You'll be amazed what you can find in your local area of the all natural. Really comes in handy in case of an emergency. I carry a little reference book with me on the things I come across I don't recognize. My best reference are the Natives. I actually go by them since they been living off these lands way before the Europeans arrived and the traditions that had been handed down through the generations. Really enjoying your wide varieties of videos Mark. Thx!

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

I agree. For me, this is what bushcraft is all about. Recognizing and being able to utilize the resources available to us in nature. I have a number of reference books I use as well but the more I learn, the more I recognize there is to learn. I would love to have an indigenous resource to learn from. I hope to find an individual or group that is willing to teach me more. Thanks for commenting

[@WarGrrl3]

Great info. Thank you. Be Blessed.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad you enjoyoyed. It was one of my very early YT videos. I still harvest and use birch polypore on a regular basis. Thanks for commenting

[@crazyhorsejohnny1974]

Excellent video. Very informative. Thanks for sharing. Have a good one.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thank you for watching

[@outdoorsmansgarage]

I don't find to many wild mushrooms where I live but this is great information for everyone else! Great video!

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

It was a while before I started seeing them and I can only positively identify a handful or so. Thanks for watching

[@mattr7976111]

Very nice video. Much thanks!

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@nicolehervieux1704]

Awesome, I will look for it in Northern Ontario. Thank you.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

You should be able to find it there. Let me know how you make out. Thanks for commenting

[@thecraftedwoodsman]

One of my favorite mushrooms! I harvest the spent, larger ones and process the amadou from them. Takes a spark like char cloth but without the blackened fingertips...lol.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

I've done the same thing with horse hoof fungus but I don't go to the extent of pounding the amadou or soaking it in ash. Thanks for the sub...

[@AvoidingChores]

lots of great info, SUBBED!!!!

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thanks Jim. Your subbing means a lot to me

[@elru374]

Awesome!! The "bandaid" demonstration was very cool!!

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thank you. This was one of my first videos with an old camera. Birch Polypores should be emerging soon , at least here in Nova Scotia, if you are interested in harvesting your own

[@elru374]

@@MarkYoungBushcraft oh, well i have been looking all over bere the last few days, after i heard of their great medicinal value. I am living in in North Idaho in a very thick forest of cedar, cottonwiod, and birch, mainly. I did find some beautiful specimens of Artisis conk on the birch, and red banded polypore on some hemlock. I am new to this, but learning fast!! Thanks again, every bit of info helps!😊

[@thelittlefarmersfarm5706]

Very interesting and informative Mark... You got my Sub brother

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

I am happy you found the video of value and thank you for subscribing

[@JG-do6eb]

Great info..thanks

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for commenting

[@JG-do6eb]

@@MarkYoungBushcraft nice job...ive been foraging these recently..found a birch loaded with them...some chicken of woods too...on the look for hen ( maitake ) ...they are really eluding me and my adventures..

[@davidy4375]

Thanks Mark for the informative video. Lots of Birch polypores around Beaver Bank (not far from you). Have used chaga for over a year now, but never knew birch polypore had any value. Will try some later this summer. Hope to meet you in person some day. We might even be related.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad you enjoyed the video. If you are not already, you may want to join Nova Scotia Bushcraft on FaceBook facebook.com/mark.young.1000469 and if you are free join us at the Annual NSB Gathering in August. More info on the FB page

[@davidy4375]

Found and joined Nova Scotia Bushcraft, thanks, but the link above seems to be your personal page. Also wondering if you know when reishi appears around this area? I haven't found any yet, but this is my first year looking.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

yup...my mistake..at least you found the NSB page

[@randal1470]

Great vid

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thanks Randal and thanks for the sub

[@smileq1830]

Thank you for your video, I pound a lot of them grown on the tree, but I didn't know what is it. Thank you so much.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for watching

[@kullcraven]

Well done, i shared the poly pore to a few people. Tho i only use it for a strop , and knew about the band aid. :) Heard you can eat the smaller ones, tho never have nor the tea. Thanks for the video Mark, enjoyed it.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Thanks Kull... I am actually watching your animal encounter video right now. Thinking I will make a short one of my own and sen you the link

[@sarahfern7128]

I had shingles. Used this & raw garlic. The shingles never got really bad & lasted less than a week.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Wow. I know the mushroom has both anti-viral as well as pain blocking affects but had not hear of it being used for shingles. Glad it worked for you. Thanks for commenting

[@JosieBarton440]

Thank you for sharing this great info about the birch polypore. How was the taste of the tea? Is it mild or strong? Chaga has a very light taste even though the color is dark when you boil it.... dark as a coffee but has a nice mild taste to it.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Hi Josie. The polypore has a light flavour but with a bit of bitterness. I put a little maple syrup in mine to take the edge off. I really like the flavour of chaga.

[@jayjohn9893]

Hey cool video. Just found some birch polypore, going to make a tea

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad you enjoyed the video. You may want to have some honey handy as birch poly-pore tea can be a bit bitter. This is the best time of year to find nice fresh poly-pores emerging on trees...enjoy

[@Helios601]

@@MarkYoungBushcraft Just back home with some thus very minute with my young daughter. Lots growing here in our local woodland in Scotland. Gonna make tea now. Great video, thanks

[@bruceshoemaker1798]

Very informative. It is Feb 6 and I found a Sweet birch with about 10 of these. I harvested one. It has a slight bit of gray mottling and the underside is tan with obvious pores -- all due to its age -- but I can still slice it with a knife. It isn't insect damaged. Can I still use it for a dual extract? Does age simply make them less potent or does it render them bad? Thanks for any advice.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

From my understanding age may degrade potency some but I don't know of any way to measure by how much. As long as the mushroom is still pretty much intact (not turned black of is obviously decaying) it will still have medicinal value. I expect the grey underside indicates the mushroom has released its spores but this will not effect potency. Hope this helps

[@newlife155]

Hello Mark, thanks for the information in this presentation, I was wondering , I got some yesterday in my local area but it was below freezing temperatures , is that a problem..?

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Hi John. I am glad you found the video interesting. Freezing and thawing does not have any negative effect on the mushroom. Enjoy

[@newlife155]

@@MarkYoungBushcraft: Thanks Mark, tea time !

[@thelittlefarmersfarm5706]

My Grandfather was fighting in Burma during the second world war and he told me a story about a guy who got an infected knife wound in his leg... The field medic was a Ghurkha and being short on supplies, he treated the wound by re-opening it and pissing on the tare before cleaning and applying thin wild honey and a strip of some flat tree mushroom over it, replacing the strips every day or so for about half a week then just leaving it to air... Pops said the wound healed very well and very quickly but I thought my grand dad was telling me tall tales at the time, what with the piss and all, but maybe not.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Lots of evidence that there is great healing value in many of the plants found in nature. I am just a beginner with so much to learn. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@respiratoryguy6477]

I stepped on a sea urchin and the locals told me to pee on it. My girlfriend went to the bathroom with a cup and came back to pour it on the wounds. I had instant relief and the blood vessels constricted. the Jamaicans were right.

[@timothylongmore7325]

I've heard that urine is used for jellyfish stings too. It's sterile and in a real pinch cleaning with it is probably better than not cleaning it. As for the mushroom treatment many (non poisonous) mushrooms have similar medicinal properties.

[@MrTatts64]

@@timothylongmore7325 If you have it handy when you get stung by jelly fish, try ordinary vinegar. Or better still, if you're heading to th beach, be sure to take some with you. One of the most painful (probably lethal too) jelly fish is the box jellyfish. I watched a documentaray which showed of swimmers in so much pain from their stings they could barely move or breathe. Basically, just convulse. Somehow, I never find out how, the lifeguards in Australia discovered that vinegar washed over the sting areas seriously reduces the pain almost instantly and the skin has a much greater chance of healing without the scarring usually associated with it too.

[@barbarianscythian6019]

Urine is the best antiseptic

[@thedriftingspore]

Great video Mark, you must a have a gut of steel with that much in your tea. I did 2 slices and learned the true meaning of gastrointestinal distress. I'm probably not as tolerant as you. if you don't mind me asking; did you have to build up to using that amount or was your gut able to handle it from the get go? I'm finding a much weaker tea to be very nice without distress of any kind.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

I agree, each person needs to find what strength their digestive system will tolerate. For me, GI distress is unpredictable. I had very aggressive colon cancer surgery a few years ago leaving me with a much shorter bowel. As a result, I am never sure when an "issue" will arise. Still, I am not greatly bothered by the birch polypore. Thanks for commenting

[@thedriftingspore]

@@MarkYoungBushcraft thank you replying Mark. the content on your channel is clear and concise. I became interested in mycology just last May and have been completely astounded that I managed to ignore it for this long. I've been hunting/fishing/outdoors the entirety of my life. i wish you all the best with your health Mark and I appreciate what you have done here on your channel.

[@robertblackmore703]

For tincture I’ve heard you want an alcohol that’s at 60% (120 proof) or stronger, otherwise it won’t fully extract.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

I have hear and read that as well but also that a tincture made with the more available 40% still give a reasonably high concentration end product. A low simmer water extraction can be made with the plants after alcohol is used. Some constituents respond to water and heat better than alcohol. Thanks for commenting

[@robertblackmore703]

@@MarkYoungBushcraft thanks for replying. Best to you and yours, friend.

[@helenaford2617]

Hello, I am new to foraging mushrooms, heard about the medicinal properties of Birch Polypore and very interested to make a medicine of them. Just picked lots in our local forest, How long do I simmer them for? ONE HOUR? TWO HOURS? OR LONGER? In how much water, for a Medium One &/or for A large One? I am simmering A Fresh Medium One Now, in distilled water and also have some in my dehydration oven to brew up as & when needed. Is there a different method to brew the dehydrated ones as opposed to the fresh ones? Is it advisable to reuse the polypore more than once to make up multiple brews? If so with your expertise & knowledge, how many times is it advisable to re-brew. Thank you so much for your great video, Gratitude Subd & Liked

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Hello. Foraging is a great activity but there is so much to learn. I have two other videos that may be of some help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fF7WZGaQiN-GkLc kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHvJq4SNlqyDeM0 . Thank you for subscribing and commenting

[@Oksana5971]

Thank you for the video, Mark. It's very informative. I collected some polo pores yesterday (for the first time) and left them on a baking sheet. Today when I looked through them, some of them had something white on the bottom side. What do you think that is and should I still use them?

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad you found the video informative. It is hard to say what you have without seeing it. If the mushroom was fresh when picked it should have a nice white bottom with very tight "pinhole" pores. As it ages but before it releases it's spores, it may develop a bit of a powdery look. Once the spores are released, the pores look bigger. Eventually, the underside will turn brownish and the mushroom surface will wrinkle a bit. The medicinal value does not diminish but I would look more closely for bugs as they tend to like this mushroom as well. If you cut the mushroom in cross section, you should see a thin bottom layer that covers what look like long tubes. It is this bottom layer that can be removed to use as a bandaid or to strop a knife. It is much easier to cut the mushroom up into thin slices for drying while it is still fresh. Hope this helps

[@Oksana5971]

Mark Young Thank you so much, I was worried that it might be mold.

[@marizaramos4840]

Do hou now if is good for fibromyalgia? Brazil

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

From my understanding of fibromyalgia I do not think the polypore will be of much use. I have not found any information suggesting it would reduce inflammation. Thanks for commenting

[@randyflear272]

How do you check if it's safe to cansum

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

It is not a matter of safe. The polypore has both anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. It is a matter of the heat during caning destroying those properties. Thanks for commenting

[@deedeedave76]

cant this be used for cysts collapsed pores

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Hello. The birch polypore does have anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties that and is often used in the treatment of open wounds but I could not find any reference to using it for skin conditions. Thanks for commenting

[@pogifishing1979]

Is it good for a soup or edible

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

If the mushroom is found just as it emerges from the tree is often soft enough to cook and eat. However, they get rubbery very quickly and would be almost impossible to eat. Thanks for commenting

[@roontunes]

no you can't eat it, I defy anyone to get past popping it in the mouth. I n my early days foraging, I tried birch polypore and as soon as it touched the tougue I spat violently immediately, totally vile ! I make concoctions from it, reduce them and get a 'radioactive' green solution, not very appetising, but I put an egg cup full in a glass of juice every day.

[@TheBrianZink]

@@roontunes just tasted it today it tastes like medicine

[@jamesdolph437]

focus

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

camera

[@CoreyCG]

can a mushroom be a plant?

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

www.nps.gov/chir/learn/nature/mushrooms.htm#:~:text=Mushrooms%20aren't%20really%20plants,part%20which%20disperses%20the%20spores.

[@martinpecheur8506]

Good info..but out of focus video

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Glad you found the video interesting. Yes, this is one of my earliest videos recorded with an old point-and-shoot camera. Not the best quality. Thanks for commenting

[@GokTurkBey]

Can u eat it

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Yes but...only if they are very, very young having just emerged from the tree. Not because they become toxic as they grow but they become too chewy. I have tried cooking and eating even the little ones and find them to tough and flavourless to be worth the effort. To me they are for medicinal use only. Thanks for commenting

[@theresanelephantinthemushr2965]

Thank you..found three and tasted like shit.watched your video and got them back out of the food bin. Give it a try.

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Yes, not the best tasting stuff for sure. Honey helps but it is still a bit bitter. I find it helps when I brew it with other mushrooms'. I do have a "medicinal cocktail" video if interested. Thanks for commenting

[@theresanelephantinthemushr2965]

@@MarkYoungBushcraft yes thank you very much. I found a few kilo today and will check it out.Thanks a lot for replying.

[@yemanimablazer2393]

What does it taste like?

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

Hi Mel. It has a definite mushroom taste and is a little bitter, depending on how strong you make it. I can see how it might be a little off-putting for some people. I don't mind the taste that much and often add a bit of honey. I usually brew a stea in combination with other mushrroms like chaga and red-belted polypore. Thanks for commenting

[@a_mustache_of_great_repute]

Mark Young can you ise it as a food though, rather than as a tea?

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

It is edible but not palatable. It has an "okay" taste but takes forever to chew, so I would say no, it is not a good source of food

[@robertbutler8307]

DO NOT BOIL!!!!!!!

[@MarkYoungBushcraft]

You are correct although you do not say why. Boiling will destroy the medicinal properties. I do say simmer a couple of times even though it appears to be boiling. Better yet would to pout hot water over it and let it steep. Thanks for commenting

[@robertbutler8307]

The easiest way I've found to brew chaga is to put it in a large tea ball and suspend it in a slow cooker full of water on low heat and leave it over night. As you use it replace the water.and continue to reheat until the brew becomes too weak. Good health to all

[@timothylongmore7325]

I just fill a mason jar with chunks and soak in fridge for a day or so. Then heat up in jar , steep till dark , pour off refill repeat till my tea jar is full or my chunks are spent. Usually get 5-6 runs. Then return chunks to nature , do NOT throw in trash , the insects love them and slugs. A little reishi or birch poly pore tincture is much better in chaga too.