Chaga Mushroom

Also known as Clinker Fungus, Birch Canker, Tinder Conk, Black Birch Button

Birch trees across northern boreal forests often host charcoal-like, cracked black growths bursting through their bark. This dark crust, known as a sclerotium, is a dense mass of fungal mycelium heavily pigmented with melanin to resist extreme cold and solar radiation. The true fruiting body develops beneath the bark only after the host tree eventually dies, releasing spores into the wind.