The tinder fungus has many varieties, most of which are beneficial to our body. Experienced mushroom pickers know about all its capabilities, but now we will pay attention to its composition, use in medicine and everyday life, and will also tell you how to properly collect, prepare and consume this forest dweller.
Botanical description
Polypores, or tinder fungi, are representatives of a non-systematic group of fungi belonging to the basidiomycetes department. They grow on wood, but sometimes on the ground.
Their hymenophore is tubular, the fruiting bodies are prostrate, sessile or cap-footed, with the appearance of pulp - from fleshy to hard (leathery, corky, woody).
Energy value and calorie content
100 g of this product contains only about 22 kcal, and also:
- proteins - 3.09 g;
- fat - 0.34 g;
- carbohydrates - 3.26 g.
Chemical composition
In addition to the high content of proteins and carbohydrates, tinder fungus contains a lot of fiber, resinous substances, B vitamins, selenium, phosphorus, potassium, zinc and manganese.
Medicinal properties
The tinder fungus has many medicinal properties:
- bactericidal;
- antivirus;
- restorative;
- expectorant;
- antitumor;
- wound healing;
- rejuvenating;
- diuretic;
- anti-inflammatory.
- ulcer;
- various tumors;
- cardiovascular diseases;
- constipation;
- liver dysfunction;
- bladder diseases;
- pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis;
- pancreas;
- gout, etc.
Collection and procurement rules
Tinder mushrooms can be harvested throughout the year, but the main thing is that they grow on living trees. The mushroom must be carefully separated from the tree at its base. Don’t forget to cut off the crust and growth from it with a knife. 
It is recommended to make the preparation on the day of collection, as these mushrooms harden very quickly. They are usually dried in a stove or in well-ventilated areas.
They can also be prepared in the form of tinctures, which are then stored in the refrigerator, or in the form of crushed powder, stored in a jar or other glass container. Another option is freezing. Then the mushrooms will be able to extend their usefulness to six months, or even up to a year.
Important!When making an infusion, be sure to follow the recipe, otherwise you may encounter side effects after its use: headache, nausea and vomiting.
Application
These mushrooms can be used both for medicinal purposes and in everyday life. 
In medicine
Mushrooms are used to treat many different diseases:
In addition, they promote wound healing, and are also included in recipes for weight loss and against insomnia.
At home
In the old days, tinder fungi were used as tinder (wick), using it to start a fire. Hats and some clothes were made from them, a kind of natural suede was obtained. 
Today, these mushrooms are used in beekeeping as fuel for smokers. They are also used in the manufacture of souvenirs, crafts, and pendants.
Did you know?Some modern artists to this day use felt-tip pens with a homemade rod cut from a tinder fungus. In such an instrument, you can change the shape and size of the writing rod at your discretion. And replacing it with a new one is also not difficult, just go into the forest. Artists believe that in this case the drawn lines turn out to be more juicy and varied.
The role of the fungus in the life of a tree
There are two options here: either cut down the tree, uproot the stump and burn it, or constantly cut off the mushrooms, disinfecting the places where they appear. 
Although it cannot be said that the appearance of tinder fungi is an entirely negative phenomenon. Yes, on the one hand, they destroy wood on a healthy tree, weakening it, on the other hand, they participate in the decomposition of dead wood, turning it into humus.
Varieties of tinder fungus
This mushroom has many subspecies. Now we will tell you about its main representatives.
Larch (real)
Larch, or, as it is also called, “real” is the most useful look tinder fungus It is inedible, but medicinal. It is widely used by nutritionists who treat patients with metabolic disorders. It also treats constipation and is used to stop bleeding.
These mushrooms are woody in structure. Their width is from 5 to 40 cm, thickness - 5–20 cm. They are attached to trees sideways. 
This is an inedible fungus that mainly lives on dead wood (mainly birch stumps). It is also called the artist's mushroom because when you press on it with a knife, it leaves a dark imprint on which you can draw.
This species is very large, reaching 40–50 cm in diameter. The surface of its cap is matte, and it appears dry in appearance, its color varies from rusty brown to gray-brown. 
Lacquered (reishi)
There are no toxic substances in this subspecies. It is used to make useful cosmetic products (for example, for skin and nails), and is also used to rejuvenate the entire body and cleanse the liver, which leads to clearing the skin of various rashes.
The color of its cap ranges from reddish to brownish-violet, and sometimes even black with a yellowish tint. It has a smooth surface reminiscent of a varnish coating. 
The mushroom has diuretic, antitumor, antibacterial and antiviral properties. It also increases hair growth activity. Young specimens are quite edible; they are used fresh, salted, pickled, or dried.
Outwardly, it somewhat resembles . It often grows at the base of trunks. Its pulp is white, distinguished by an attractive aroma of nuts and mushrooms. 
This subspecies is most often used in cooking. Its regular use lowers cholesterol and blood sugar levels and normalizes the condition of the cardiovascular system. Has antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects. Vegetarians often replace poultry meat with it.
Important!Only young specimens that grow on coniferous trees, and then only in heat-treated form!
They are usually located low above the ground on tree trunks or stumps. Their flesh is soft and juicy, quite brittle, white, and sour in taste. 
The mushroom is inedible. Although some sources say that you can still eat it, but only the cap and only the young mushroom. True, it is absolutely tasteless, so it is difficult to say what is best to cook from it.
His hat is gray-brown, round, with a depressed center and a rolled edge. The leg is velvety, brownish. The pulp is white, hard. 
Also an inedible subspecies. It is considered completely useless. The hat can have a diameter from 5 to 25 cm. Its shape is irregular, funnel-shaped with wavy edges. In young specimens they are gray-brown, in mature ones they are rich brown, almost black. 
It contains substances with antibiotic properties and antitumor effects. With its help, they treat pulmonary diseases, relieve fever, and help muscle tissue recover. It is not used in cooking.
Its pulp is thin, whitish, with a bitter taste. Young mushrooms may have a slight anise smell. The tubes are short - up to 6 mm long. 
Also inedible. Grows on thin fallen branches. Fruits in summer and autumn. The fruiting bodies of this subspecies are small. The diameter of the hat is no more than 5 cm. It is fleshy with thin edges, yellow-brown or ocher in color. The leg is long, thin, dark brown or black. 
In its medicinal properties it is similar to the real tinder fungus. It grows on birch trees, which is why it gets its name. Good as an antispasmodic. Appearance resembles a large bud of a brownish hue. The brown rot it produces “kills” the tree very quickly.
Did you know? This subtype is used to treat the last stage of cancer, when medications do not have an effect. Birch polypore can stop the growth of metastases and relieve pain. In such cases, pour 1 tablespoon of mushroom powder into 400 ml of boiling water and boil for 20 minutes, then filter and take 1 tablespoon three times a day.
The mushroom is inedible. Its fruit body is in the form of lateral caps, often numerous, yellowish in color. Radiated tinder fungi are formed mainly on the trunks of dead alder, with the exception of birch. 
It is used very widely for medicinal purposes: to regulate the functioning of the liver and rehabilitation of cancer patients, the mushroom has hormone-stimulating, immunostimulating and vasodilating effects. It is used in the treatment of alcoholism, and also against the herpes virus.
Hats of this subspecies are usually up to 10 cm in diameter. The top is divided into zones various colors: white, gray, brown give way to blue and almost black. 
Another name is motley. Basically, the mushroom is added to ointments against inflammation in the joints, osteochondrosis, arthrosis, and varicose veins. It is a distant relative of the oyster mushroom. It differs from it only in that on the underside of the hat it does not have plates, but tubes. 
This mushroom is inedible. It can be used to produce pulp from various waste materials because it contains lactose, which breaks down lignin. In terms of their structure, these are cork mushrooms with a diameter of 3 to 12 cm. Young specimens have a bright cinnabar-red color, but mature ones fade and become almost ocher in color. 
This subspecies is inedible. Its second name is fragrant. Its peculiarity is its anise smell. The fruit body is rusty brown. This mushroom often grows on dead wood and stumps of coniferous trees. 
It is not used in cooking, but in medicine - yes. It has anti-inflammatory, antitumor and antiviral properties.
His hats are flat (sometimes uneven), with a velvety surface, which can become bare with age. The fruiting bodies are sometimes covered with algae, which gives them a green tint. The pulp looks like a cork - often white, less often yellowish. 
It contains pigments used in industry for coloring. The sewing machine has no smell or taste at all. Its spores are white, with a faint olive-yellow or rust color.
This subspecies settles on the roots of trees, and sometimes goes shallow into the ground. It looks like a typical so-called soil mushroom. 
Also known as "mother-in-law's tongue." It is rich in vitamin C, in 100 g of its pulp - daily norm ascorbic acid. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, various vitamins, and phosphorus. Young “mother-in-law’s tongue” with non-lignified pulp is edible.
Diameter fruiting body sometimes reaches 30 cm. Young liverworts are quite shapeless, and in mature age they become tongue-shaped, leaf-shaped or fan-shaped. Their surface is shiny, smooth, and sticky when wet.
Important!The composition of tinder fungi has not been fully studied, so before starting treatment with them, it is better to consult a specialist.
As you can see, the family of these mushrooms is very diverse. There are both medicinal and edible ones. And there are also dangerous ones! Therefore, be careful before using them and be sure to find out about the properties of each subspecies. We hope that our article will help you with this.
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The flat polypore belongs to inedible mushrooms family Ganoderma, genus Ganoderma. It is most common in the forests of the Northern Hemisphere, in particular in its temperate zone.
Description and distribution
This type of mushroom is perennial; their age can range from 40 to 50 years. Due to the absence of a stalk, the mushroom is classified as sessile, i.e. attached sideways to its location. Polypores are usually not located too high, and their favorite places to appear are stumps, old or dying trees, and dead wood. Mostly poplars and birches are subject to their siege, less often conifers. The tinder fungus is located flat on a short distance from each other, forming a layer of mushrooms.
The width of their cap can vary from 5 to 40 cm; sometimes there are giant mushrooms with a cap up to 75 cm. The surface of the mushroom cap is flat with pronounced sagging and irregularities, framed in most cases by a white border. There is also a matte coating on the surface. The cap itself has a color from grayish to dirty brown. Its outer part is white or milky. If you cut the mushroom, its flesh will look like a chocolate-colored cork. Most often on the mushroom cap you can find in large quantities spore powder.
The flat tinder fungus is a powerful wood destroyer. Forming on it, it contributes to the appearance of white rot.
(Ganoderma applanatum)
Insert-mushroom-tree Synonyms: Ganoderma lipsiense. In addition, there are more than 30 more synonyms.
Etymology:Ganoderma(Greek derma- leather) applanation(lat. applanatus- flattened, flattened).
Fruit bodies:perennial, solitary, occasionally in groups of 2, located one below the other, sessile, greatly varying in size depending on habitat, 5-40 cm or more (occasionally up to 60 cm) in diameter, 1.5-12 cm thick, at the base, flat, half-shaped, occasionally tongue-shaped, so that the width exceeds the length, very rarely almost hoof-shaped or nodule-shaped. The surface of the cap is uneven, wavy, often tuberculate, covered with a thin, soon hardening and thickening crust, shiny when cut, initially whitish-grayish, then darkening, often brown from the spores covering it. The edge is straight, thin, blunted or rounded, initially whitish, gray or leathery yellow above, later the same color as the rest of the surface, sterile below. The tissue is hard, corky, elastic, vaguely zonal, felt-fibrous when torn, from thin to rather thick, reddish-brown, often with white dotted discolorations interspersed with tufts of colorless hyphae. The tubes are layered, often with noticeable thin layers of sterile tissue between the layers, the same color as the tissue, filling with white mycelium with age. The surface of the hymenophore is white, then yellowish, turning brown when touched, becoming darker with age.
The crust on the surface of the basidioma has a characodermic structure, consisting of thread-like cells arranged in a palisade layer.
Pores:entire, round, small, 4-6 per 1 mm.
Hyphal system: Trimitic. Generative hyphae are hyaline, thin-walled, septate, with buckles, very difficult to observe in the basidioma tissue. The skeletal hyphae are brown, very thick-walled to almost solid, 4-6 µm in diameter, highly branched, with branches of successively narrower diameters, and finally turning into thin, highly convoluted endings. The connecting hyphae are very few.
Basidia: 10-13x7-9 microns.
Disputes:ellipsoidal-ovate, truncated at the apex, 6.5-8.5x4.5-6 µm, with a double shell: episporium hyaline, smooth, endosporium brownish, warty.
Spore powder: brown. Chlamydospores sometimes form inside the cavities in the tram.
Habitat:It grows everywhere in mixed, deciduous and coniferous forests, in gardens and parks, on dying trees, stumps, dead wood and treated wood. Fruits throughout the growing season mainly on stumps and dead wood of various deciduous species (Betula, Fagus, Fraxinus, Juglans, Maius, Populus, Quercus, Salix etc.), occasionally on conifers (AbieSy Larix, Picea, Pinus).
Edibility:inedible due to hard flesh.
Distribution in Kazakhstan: Widely distributed mushroom.
Area:Grows on all continents. Cosmpolitan.
Similar types: Very close to G. Upsense view G. australe (Fr.) Pat., 1889. Pilate (RPaCh, 1934) considered this species to be a form of the previous one, common in southern, subtropical and tropical countries. Modern experts prefer to consider this mushroom, which grows on living and dead trees of many deciduous species, as a separate species. Main difference fromG. Upsense- larger spores -8.5-10(12) x 5-7.5 microns. Macroscopically, it is distinguished by a slightly thicker crust and the absence of sterile layers between the layers of tubes. Riwarden and Gilbertson identify this species withG. adspersum (Schulzer) Donk. According to A. S. Bondartsev (1953), who considered this mushroom to be a formG. Upsense, he was known from the Caucasus (Georgia). There is no information about his presence in Kazakhstan.
I remember very well a picture from my cheerful pioneer childhood. The game “Zarnitsa” - we actively compete in a sunny forest clearing in a birch grove near Bryansk, sunbathe by the fast Snezheti river, and the teacher - a former paratrooper - collects some nondescript dry tinder fungi on rotten fallen trees. For what? In the evening we found out why... There were hordes of mosquitoes. No, clouds... And neither our flimsy satin tracksuits nor canvas tents could save us from them. That’s when our paratrooper showed a master class: he poured dry tinder fungi, like flat cakes, out of a bag into the fire. He waited until they dried properly in the fire and smoldered, and then smoldered, and began to roll them out with a stick and scatter them in a circle - around the tents. And immediately the clouds of mosquitoes retreated. They couldn’t stand the smoke that was spreading across the grass. “This is probably how ancient people protected themselves from mosquitoes... They also got them,” our savior joked... “And you can also... write notes on such tinder fungi!” And then quickly wrote a few words with a knife: “These words will last a long time. Neither the rain will wash them away, nor will time erase them..."
Our paratrooper was right; they were well taught to survive in the forest, using the ancient traditions of different peoples.
For example, the indigenous peoples of Siberia and Altai and the Indians of Alaska traditionally have this tree mushroom used as an anti-mosquito agent - the smoldering of a dry mushroom with the formation of bitter smoke repelled mosquitoes and midges. And for them, this flat mushroom with a white underside also served as a kind of “notes” on which everyday drawings were depicted.
I scare away evil wasps
This summer, vicious and aggressive wasps settled near the dacha. They attacked the dog and almost bit it to death. The neighbor's grandmother was bitten into allergic shock... You can't go to wasps with a stick... I remembered old recipe- light a flat tinder fungus and leave it smoldering near the nest... Allegedly, wasps cannot stand the smell of smoldering resins and are put into a stupor or sleepy state as a result. I was convinced of own experience- This is true. I immediately threw five of them near the nest... And the wasps really barely crawled, as if sleepy. I beat them all up with an ordinary glossy magazine. Well, he destroyed the nest. So that it would be discouraging to bite.
Andrey Zavyalov, Tosno
In Latin the name of the mushroom is very logical - Ganodermaapplanatum(gan = shiny, derm = skin, applanatum = flat).
And among mycologists it is known as - flat tinder
The American Indians called it "red mother" medicinal mushroom» (Liu and Bau, 1980), in China "ancient ling chi" (Willard, 1990). In Russia - flat polypore, dead wood.
All over the world they knew well and healing properties this mushroom. The Yakuts brewed flat tinder fungus cakes for washing infants; women rubbed the body and chest with a thick infusion of tinder fungus during and after feedings. The crushed powder of the boiled tinder fungus was given as food to the deer - they were poured out in a heap in front of the dwelling and the deer licked this bitter delicacy until the ground thawed.
Tinder helped the baby
Flat tinder fungus (not to be confused with othergimi tinder fungi) is a remarkably healing tinder fungus. My grandmother lives in my village near Pskov, to whom I came with a six-year-old child. The summer was cold and rainy, and my child fell ill with bronchitis. After the temperature dropped (two days later), there was a strong cough leading to attacks. Grandma went into the forest and brought several pieces of these tinder fungi, threw them into a cast iron pot and steamed them in a stove over coals (not over an open fire). And she sat him down to breathe over this cast iron. The expectoration started immediately - in the morning. After three or four pots of iron, the cough went away completely.
Korotich Anna, Pskov
There are known good results in the treatment of diseases of the liver and pancreas with polypore flatus by the devotee of “mushroom therapy” of the 19th century, the zemstvo doctor Polotebnov. He described several cases of successful treatment of liver cirrhosis and pancreatitis.
In Czechoslovakia in the 60s, there were cases of liver and pancreatic cancer being cured with an aqueous infusion of polypore flatus.
In the Pskov province in the 19th century, scrofulous children were successfully cured with an infusion of tinder fungus (by bathing). The testimony of N. Kuzminskaya, the sister-in-law of the writer Leo Tolstoy and the daughter of the doctor Bers, is known that her father’s recipe for the torment of an infant of one of the peasant women on the Tolstoy estate due to constant skin itching (allergic dermatitis) was simple and effective - bathing the child in the infusion tinder fungus flat.
A strong infusion of flat tinder fungus (to a brownish-brown liquid) relieves itching and inflammation due to skin fungus. This method was used by foresters in the North-West, and Baltic fishermen and Finnish farmers are well aware of this.
In China, the use of polypore flatum is known for rheumatism (water baths), cancer of the liver and pancreas, cancer of the stomach and esophagus. In Japan, an infusion of polypore flatum was used for heart ailments - tachycardia, sharp pain.
Proven healing properties
The taste of this tinder fungus (like many other species) is bitter with a cinchona aftertaste. Biotechnologists noted in the mid-20th century medicinal properties polypore flatus, since a whole complex of steroid components was isolated in it. Of particular interest in pharmacology is ganoderic acid isolated from it and its derivatives. At the same time, it was noted that the flat polypore has pronounced hepatoprotective, antimicrobial, antitumor and antihistamines properties. The latter quality is especially important, since these antiallergic properties were found in only a few types of mushrooms and not in any of the medicinal herbs (!).
Polypore flatus has demonstrated immunostimulating properties in animal experiments. The complex of fungal polysaccharides causes the formation of natural interferon in the body of mice, and the nucleic acid isolated from polypore flatus provides protection against congenital encephalitis virus in mice (Kanderfer- Scerstsen et al., 1979). Polypore polysaccharides stimulate antitumor activity against sarcoma 180 in mice.
Studies of the chitin-glucan complex of polypore flatus have proven that this mushroom contains a record content of 20% (!).
Such a high content of CGC indicates that the mushroom has a high ability to bind heavy metal ions, that is bring out radionuclides and heavy metals from the human body and cleanse the Earth's atmosphere! This is also the reason for its unique antiallergic properties.