How to Know Whether it's Chaga Mushroom or Some Fungus Non-sense?
When looking to identify Chaga Mushroom (Inonotus obliquus), you always want to look for the gold.
That softer, squishy yellow/orange core of Chaga contains "fungal lanostances" and also helps to differentiate it from it's closest potential look-alike, the evil "black knot fungus" or other look-alikes.
The great thing about harvesting Chaga is that first off, there's pratically no posionous tree mushrooms in North America especially, and secondly, there's not many look-alike mushrooms to Chaga.
The closest appearing mushrooms are the black tree knot fungus in the picture below and a medicinal mushroom which I call Chaga's sister, named Meshima "Phellinus linteus" (also known as Mesima) which is a lymphatic system cleaner that assists with breast cancer and hypohidrosis (will be discussed in future newsletters).
You can see in the pictures below, on the left is the Black Knot Fungus and to the right is the King of the Forest; Chaga Mushroom.
"Black Knot Fungus"
"Chaga Mushroom" (Inonotus obliquus)
If you're still having a hard time being able to identify the differences between Chaga and the Black Knot Fungus or any other tree mushroom, that just chip a small piece of the outer realms of the mushroom with a hatchet or stone to see if that stunning gold, yellow, orange colour is there.
KEY POINT: DO NOT EVER dig into the tree with a knife like some scarcity minded peasant of the world and across YouTube, and quite seriously wound anyone you catch harvesting Chaga mushroom that way.
It is not sustainable.
You want to harvest Chaga Mushrooms ethically & sustainably, so only take a small piece from off the outer edges of the mushroom and be certain to leave the tree completely covered by the mushroom to protect from virus', bacterial infections or cold to enter the harvested from tree.
It's always all about respecting and loving nature, after-all she's producing magical medicine to elevate our consciousness and evolve our body's to the highest level of vibrant health.
So not only does the squishy, softish gold core of Chaga help you better identify it over look alikes like the Black Knot Fungus, among others, it also contains "fungal lanostances", a form of triterpene that is antibacterial and even anti-candida.
These triterpene elements in the gold portion of Chaga's skin have been shown to eliminate the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, as well as thyroid dysfunction and exhibit powerful cytotoxicity toward carcinoma cells.
Look at that BLACK GOLD.
This gold core represents the truest alchemical substance in the woods, something that transforms base metals, minerals and human beings into gold (higher levels of ascension and thought).
Always remember to protect the forest and respect the gold.
Stay Shroomie 🍄
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930 comments
In its early growth does Chaga have the black outer layer?
“While it (chaga) grows almost exclusively on birch trees, it has also been spotted on elm, ash, beech, and ironwood trees.” – this was an excerpt from an article on winter mushroom hunting – found here, with my compliments – https://wildfoodism.com/2014/12/22/winter-mushroom-hunting-8-species-to-collect-for-food-and-medicine/
Does chaga get it’s own parasite? I have been watching what I thought was one, and have noticed black jellies growing , only visible certain times after rain.
Hi, I go to a cafe that offers a hot chocolate with Chaga mixed into it They told me the “Chaga is a powder” sourced from China. This concerns me. Is Chaga only found in North America? I’m wondering too like Cinnamon has a true and copy cinnamon the cheap one from the cassia tree from china – does China do a copy Chaga like the cinnamon?
Hello I live in NH and found what looks very much like chaga to me but is not growing on a birch tree. I see the gold inside. Black on the outside. I have pictures