Species Lunation 2 – Birch Polypore

Before I talk about this month’s species, let me just say that already I am finding this whole experiment to be deeply rewarding. Ever since my month with Pileated Woodpecker, I have been more aware of their presence – both directly when hearing their calls and hammering, or indirectly when noticing their holes in trees throughout the swamp. They have also been visiting me more than before, which is interesting! The other day I watched a particularly acrobatic male successfully manage to use the suet feeder despite being quite a bit larger than it. I keep thinking that if I continue to immerse myself in a local species each month indefinitely, eventually I will get completely tuned in to the entire ecosystem. Especially because, as I research, I pay attention to the ways in which each species interacts with others. (Not directly related to this, but I recently learned that scientists believe reishi mushrooms are spread from tree to tree by woodpeckers, who deposit the spores as they dig for insects, in the same kinds of decaying trees that the mushrooms favor!)

This past month was spent in the company of Birch Polypore. Going through this process with a fungus was quite a bit different than with an animal, as the fungus could be observed readily and closely. In fact, the first thing I did was venture out into the woods to find them, thinking that I might not be able to get out there again during the month as I assumed there would be more snow and ice on the way (instead we had an extremely mild late winter). I had seen plenty of birch trees rife with these mushrooms and was planning to take a single sample of a fruiting body, but was fortunate enough to come across a fallen branch covered in them, which I could take home and store out on the porch without actually harming the mushrooms at all (who can continue to feed on the decaying wood until I return the whole thing to the woods later and let them spread their spores).

I also want to share this photo below, which was taken back in November, looking up at one of my favorite polypore trees out there:

These mushrooms are found year-round and can live through the winter, but at this time of year they are not at their best in terms of harvesting, so I also ordered some dried ones from a small company that forages them very near to where I live.

Meanwhile, I got to work on the research part. I knew they had some purported medicinal properties but the list is vast – antiparasitic, antiseptic, antitumor, antifungal, antiviral, immune-boosting, and even styptic (they can be used as makeshift bandages). They are not edible but can be consumed as a decoction or tincture. They are also used for tinder, polishing metals, sharpening blades (giving them the folk name “razor strop fungus”), as inkblotters and for mounting insects. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any information on possible use by the local indigenous peoples. But the famous Ötzi the Iceman was carrying a piece of birch polypore strung on a thread, either for medicinal or tinder purposes. I decided to make my own pendant from one of the dried slices:

Considering this fungus selectively parasitizes only birch trees, I saw a strong connection with Nerthus (who I pay cultus to) and other birch goddesses, as well as with other polypores that specialize in this tree, such as chaga and the tinder or hoof fungus (both of which I have harvested and used here). Themes of healing, fire, and decomposition kept emerging.

Towards the end of the month, I decided to try an experiment with some of the dried mushroom slices – I wanted to make a mask. I broke them into pieces and soaked them in water overnight, then wrung them out and started kneading them into a pulp. When it wasn’t adhering as well as I’d hoped, I thought of adding flour (like with papier mache) and it worked wonders. I shaped it over a mask form, dried it for a few days with a fan (watching the color oxidize to a dark brown, although strangely the inside surface stayed white), and then sat with it until I felt some inkling of what it was meant to be. As a name/title came to me, I added strips of curling birch bark, and mounted it on a birch branch I collected last year from a particularly special spot, so that it could be held up to my face (feeling it was too fragile to try to pierce with holes for string and tie on, though ultimately I feel this way suits its use better anyway).

This is To See the Silence in the Land (I have a couple more photos over at imWalde)

Yesterday, the last day of the lunar month, I did another brief ritual on the porch – burning birch bark in a fire lit by a strip of the fungus, drinking polypore tea (quite bitter), wearing the pendant, and holding the mask to my face to gaze out at the swamp, silently thanking the mushroom.

I also completed another page of illustration and information. Like the last one, I will keep this displayed in my home for this coming month while I focus on the next species, to make sure I keep it in my thoughts even as I move on.

~ by Dver on March 11, 2024.