Day 5 of the hunt for the Inonotus
obliquus fruiting body.
9/12/08
Grafton MA
Found a snag of a Yellow Birch which still
had some small Chaga attached. This snag had lost all branches and looked
like the tree died several years earlier. I noticed several places where the bark was
split and curled back. I removed one piece about a square foot in size and
saw a whitish gray surface that definitely showed the end of tubes, pointing
down to the ground.
At the upper right is a small Chaga. Down from that you see a tear in bark
about 2.5" wide where the bark on either side pulled away from the tree. I
removed the bark below that, to expose the fruiting body. The gray stuff is it.
Here is a closer view of that surface.
You can see the openings of the ends of tubes that are pointing down to the
ground.
Here is even a closer view.
Another close-up view, near the bark of the
tree that is still attached.
Still another close-up.
I believe this to be the true fruiting body of Inonotus obliquus. Being
whitish in color, it should be a relatively young and a living fruiting body, as described
in the Lincoff's mushroom guide. I am trying to get some spores to study.
I hope to find more of these since now I know what to look for.