Birch polypore- bitterly brilliant fungus.
Birch polypore, also acknowledged as birch bracket or razor strop, has a rightful place in the family Fomitopsidaceae. Birch polypore can be easily witnessed on dead birch trees or logs, and occasionally on living trees too.
Birch polypore has brown caps that are white-colored underneath with plenty of spore holes. It achieves two birds with one stone by living both saprobic and parasitic life. Its main areas of interest are those trees that are weak, injured, or overcrowded. Birch polypore erupts from the damaged portion of the trees and proceeds down towards the trunk, simultaneously killing the tree in the process.
Although birch polypore is a nightmare for the birch trees yet it is proved to be of great use in ethnobotanical world. Birch polypore attained its long-forgotten fame when it was found on a 5300-year-old mummy, Ötzi’. Birch polypore possesses a myriad of pharmacological properties like anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-cancer, anti-parasitic, anti-hemorrhagic, anti-viral, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and so forth.
Birch polypore has very valuable phytochemicals that contribute to its magnificent medicinal properties like phenolic acids, indole compounds, sterols, triterpenes, and agaric acid.