A.S. Bondartsev (1953) divided the false tinder into two types: aspen (Ph. Tremulae) and the false tinder proper (Ph. Igniarius); the second has a number of forms for fodder hosts.

The fruiting body is a perennial, hard woody, semi-experimental with an extended base, difficult to separate from the substrate, often semi-prostrate or even prostrate at the branches. On the bonnet, longitudinal and transverse cracks are noticeable. Above it is black, brown at the edge and bottom. Fruit bodies are not as large as those of the false tinder itself. Forming at the base of the knots, the fruit bodies of the aspen false tinder often appear to be sitting in the hollow of the bark.

Rot in the initial stage in the form of grayish or red-brown color of the central part of the trunk. The developed rot is central whitish or light yellowish, more or less soft. From the healthy, peripheral part of the trunk rot is separated by a dark line (width of 2-3 mm); around which in fresh sections one can see a greenish strip of the wound core (up to 1 cm wide). In the developed light rot, there are scattered, brownish or black, closed or interrupted thin dark lines. The peripheral dark line bordering rot contains a large number of tinder fungus.

Aspen tinder is common within aspen growth; amazes living aspen trees and occasionally other poplar species.

Externally, the degree of development and spread of rot in the aspen stem characterizes the number and distribution of the fungal fruit bodies in the trunk.

Developed central rot spreads in the lower, most valuable part of the trunk, rising high on it. More common are two types of rot development. In the first case, the rot, gradually expanding, goes down to the very base of the trunk, in the second case it is wedged out above the base of the trunk. A significant spread of rot to the periphery and the length of the trunk often completely reduces the technical qualities of the wood of its main business part.

Infection of trees with aspen false tinder occurs through shrunken and fallen branches. In the places of such branches the fruit bodies of the fungus are located, and on the very branches the rot comes to them.

In young aspen trees, from the first years of their growth, the development of rot from false tinder is preceded by the emergence and spread of reddish. Krasnina arises and spreads from all different and numerous damages by various insects, damages and wrinkles caused by grazing lambing and in general from any mechanical damage.

According to N. Krenke (1928), the appearance of redden is a physiological reaction to any mechanical damage inflicted on a tree and occurs when aerobic respiration ceases, when the oxidation process takes precedence over restoration and brown pigment is formed in dead cells. At first, this phenomenon occurs in damaged cells, then in neighboring cells, and in the order of “chain reaction”, it spreads to intact cells and more distant wood tissues.

Later, in the reddened wood, some bacteria and fungi develop, which can change its color, but are not yet the direct cause of heart rot. Already by the age of 10–20 years, all 100% of young aspen trees come with a central red spot with a length of 3.8–7 m along its trunk (A. M. Ankudinov, 1939).

According to P. N. Borisov (1941), infection of aspen with a false tinder occurs through a variety of injuries, including those inflicted by insects, even at a young age. The massive development of overt rot from false tinder is found in tree stands of III-IV age classes, within 25-35 years of age. In a small amount, aspen trees with developed rot from false tinder are already present in aspen trees of I-II age classes.

Only in the distribution of core redwood in wood, and in the latter of some bacteria and fungi, which have prepared the soil, there is an intensive and massive spread in the wood of the false tinder, the development of rot from it.

This is evidenced by the fact that in aspen trees of older ages (IV-VI and large age classes) there are often trees without rot from a false tinder, but having a developed central red with a characteristic, radial-wedge-shaped, peripheral orientation.

Especially fast and in bulk, aspen trees are affected by a false tinder in the worst conditions of sprouting with poor and dry soils. Under optimal conditions for the growth of aspen, under the conditions of spruce growth, the spread of tinder in aspen trunks occurs later and more slowly with a smaller number of trees. Least affected by tinder aspen on rich, well-drained soils with shallow groundwater levels at the bases of the slopes.

By the age of maturity of aspen trees, 80-90% of trees and more are often affected by a false tinder.

The massive destruction of aspen stands by a false tinder can greatly reduce and nullify the output of industrial wood.

Measures to combat false aspen tinder are not sufficiently developed and are mainly reduced to forestry measures.

In the most valuable plantations should be carried out preventive measures against the infection of trees with false tinder. Here it is necessary to carry out systematic care of trees from the youngest of their age according to the garden type, with pruning of all dying off and dead branches and processing the places of their exit with creosote, bitumen or garden putty.

In older tree stands, it is advisable to systematically remove fruit bodies, which will lead to a decrease in the spread of fungal spores and the possibility of infection of healthy trees. In addition, one should test the antiseptic and insulating putty of the attachment sites of fruit bodies, which, according to A.T. Vakin (1954), will lead to self-suppression of the fungus or at least to a sharp slowdown in its development and spread of rot in the trunk.

In low-value, especially mixed aspen trees, they should be gradually replaced by more valuable tree stands from other species through the systematic directional use of all types of thinning, as well as the reconstruction of such plantations.

It is necessary to create in appropriate forest growing conditions instead of low-value aspen as culture from a giant hybrid aspen or poplar species.

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This species is very similar to a closely related truly false tinder, which is characterized by large fruit bodies and more pronounced forms.

Bondartsev Apollinaris Semenovich in 1953 divided the false tinder into two types: false (Phellinus igniarius) and aspen (Phellinus tremulae)

General characteristics of aspen tinder

As a substrate, the trutovik uses wood, taking away organic matter and ash elements from the tree, as well as vitamins and growth regulators.

Life cycle of aspen tinder

The fungus develops perennial mycelium and perennial layered fruit body. The formation of fruit bodies and the moment of visual detection of the fungus in aspen plantings follow the latent form of tinder fungus. Spores, penetrating through frost-cracking and mechanical damage, cause the development of yellowish or grayish core rot with clear black lines on the border with healthy tissue — fungal hyphae. The fungus spreads from the lower part of the trunk to the top and, feeding on the fabric of the tree, leads to the death of individual branches and a windbreak. Having developed mycelium, the fungus proceeds to generative reproduction, forms fruit bodies and spores.

Mushroom tinder puts high demands on environmental conditions. For its successful development requires moderately high positive temperatures and high humidity. The lack of coverage does not lead to the death of the mycelium, but affects the formation of fruiting bodies, the number of which is sharply reduced. Formed fruit bodies may experience deformations and curvatures. For the synthesis of nutrients, the fungus consumes oxygen and emits carbon dioxide, so the concentration and composition of air also plays a role in development.

Photos of aspen tinder

Mushrooms - pathogens rot

A variety of wood rot causes many wood-destroying fungi to settle on both live and dead wood. Root and sapwood rot, affecting the tissues necessary for the plant, and the organs are the most dangerous, as they quickly cause the death of the tree. Also dangerous are mixed rot, which captures the sapwood and the central part of the trunk, and therefore the trees die, break by the wind. Central (core) rot outwardly do not change the tree. For a long time, the affected tree does not impair its growth, however, such trees lose strength, and with strong developed rot they are broken by the wind.

False aspen tinder

False aspen tinder. This tinder lives only on aspen, striking the trunks and branches of living trees. The fungus causes light yellow heart rot. Aspen infection with heart rot is usually very high. In the aspen forests, small dark gray fruit bodies of tinder men draw attention, sometimes scattered in many pieces on the trunks of old aspens. The fruit body of the aspen tinder is perennial, woody, hoof-shaped with a wide base, difficult to separate from the trunk. The hat is sharp-edged, fissured, gray on top, rusty on bottom. Infection of aspen with this tinder occurs through wounds, broken branches, damage to the bark. Rot develops mainly in the middle of the trunk, then extending to the upper part and down, sometimes to the butt. Fruiting tinder bodies develop at the exit site of dead boughs. Contamination of 60-70-year-old aspen trees with heart rot can reach a significant scale, which leads to a windbreak affected by rotten trees and the destruction of old aspen trees.

Fox tinder  In the aspen trees on the trunks of trees one can often see fruit bodies of tinder-colored rye bread. These are fox caps. The fungus affects living aspen trees, usually lagging behind, in the second tier of plantations. The fox can be developed on dead trees - dry wood, windfall, windbreak. Fruit bodies of the fungus have the form of flat, side-attached caps, single or tiled groups. On top of the cap light red or brown, felt-bristly. The surface of the tubular layer is brownish-brown. The fungus infects aspen through dead, broken branches. Mixed rot forms in a tree trunk. In the final stage of the disease, rotten wood acquires a yellowish color and is easily divided into separate fibers. Aspen trees affected by the fungus shrink or break due to the development of mixed rot in the trunk.

Tinder, birch.  The fungus develops on live or dead aspen trunks, causing mixed rot of the trunks. There is an opinion that the birch birch spider is an ancient relic, since the areas of its distribution are very limited. False birch tinder forms annual fruit bodies, lightly colored, yellowish, fawn, brownish over time. Fruit bodies are flat with a sharp edge, covered with a thin skin, smooth, bottom with numerous rounded tubules. Mushroom is quite rare.

Shadows. Opinion mushroom is widely known as a magnificent edible mushroom. However, few know that it can cause peripheral white rot of the roots of aspen, birch, pine, fir, cedar and other trees. The rot is capable of rising in a tree trunk by 2-3 m. The speed of spread of rot in a tree depends on the size and general condition of the tree. Young trees (10-20 years) may die within a year, adult large trees are sick for 10 years or more, which significantly affects their growth. Blight rot from wood can lead to death from drying out or windfall. Garland belongs to the group of cap mushrooms. The caps of the mushroom fruit bodies are round, with a small tubercle in the center, from honey-yellow to brown, with small dark scales. On the leg there is a ring of remnants of the bedspread. In addition to the fruit bodies, the fungus forms external rhizomorphs (cords) and films (mycelium) under the bark. Infection of a tree with a fungus occurs with the help of a rhizomorph, upon contact of infected roots with healthy ones. To a healthy root, rhizomorphs can also pass on plant residues. Mycelium from rhizomorph penetrates to the root through lentils on the bark. Signs of tree lesions are the presence of longitudinal cracks on the roots, darkening and wet rot of bast, premature yellowing of the leaves, the presence of rhizomorphs on the roots, and in autumn - the fruiting bodies of the fungus at the base of the trunk.

Cortovik Hartig.  In the rough taiga on the trunks of old fir trees you can find massive gray tinder hats. These are the fruiting bodies of the Harteer tinder who causes the white stem rot of the fir. It was determined that the fungus affects mainly the thickest trees, and the development of rot is accompanied by the formation of tinder on the trunks of fruit bodies. The fruiting bodies of the tinder are jaundice-like, or in the form of side-mounted, attached thick caps. On top of the caps are smooth, yellow-brown, then dirty gray. The bottom of the fruit bodies is yellow-brown and consists of small tubes. The stem rot of wood, caused by Hartig's tinder, is mostly concentrated in the central part of the trunk, it is white, fibrous. In the last stage of decay, when the trunks of trees lose their mechanical strength, the tree usually breaks under the pressure of the wind in the place of the greatest development of rot. Stumps with a height of 4-6 m remain. Such stumps, single and in groups, are not uncommon in fir forests.

Tinder resinous. In the second half of summer, in the lower part of the trunks of old fir trees, on the stumps, you can see fan-shaped, sideways attached fleshy caps of this mushroom. The resinous tinder has not received wide distribution in the fir forests, but in suitable conditions it willingly populates the weakened fir. Fungal bodies of the fungus usually appear at the butt of an infected tree and have the appearance of wavy, flat, sideways attached caps. On top of the fruit body velvety, rusty-brown. Resinous tinder intensively destroys wood. The rot of ocher-yellow color, rotten wood is stratified by annual layers and split into fibers. Although the length of the rot in the trunk is small, the rot can develop in a mixed manner, which leads to a windbreak tree. In the future, the fungus can continue its development on the dead trunk or stump until the complete destruction of the wood.

Root sponge. In coniferous forests you can see trees felled (uprooted) by the wind. The root systems of such trees bear signs of rotting. Roots affected by rot decompose into variegated, easily separated fibers. The causative agent of rot is the fungus root sponge, infecting fir, pine, larch, cedar, spruce. Root sponge also found on deciduous trees, but they suffer to a lesser extent. With the defeat of pine with a root sponge, the wood of the roots is impregnated with resin, it acquires a reddish, sometimes slightly purple hue, gives off a strong smell of turpentine. The defeat of the roots of pine usually leads to a gradual weakening and drying of the tree. In the affected pines, the needles in the crown are thinning and yellowing, the tree dries and falls with the wind. With the defeat of the root sponge, marsh fir and spruce the disease develops more intensively. Not encountering a powerful resin barrier in its path, the fungus quickly spreads over the roots, then passes into the trunk, causing central rot, which rises along the trunk to a height of 3–4 m. , trees seem healthy. Such a course of the disease can lead to rapid, sometimes sudden drying of the tree. Fungal bodies of the fungus appear mainly on the lateral roots of fallen trees or on stumps. The fruiting bodies of the root sponge are perennial, brown at the top, usually prostrate in the form of thick rustlings, cakes, merging and merging in several, less often in the form of side-attached caps. A feature of the root sponge is its ability to spread through the roots. Therefore, often the disease of the root sponge is focal in nature.

Pine sponge. In the old pine forest on the trunks of trees can often be found fruiting bodies of the fungus felinus. Usually they have the form of small side-attached hoof-shaped caps. The top of the caps is dark, covered with small cracks, usually overgrown with light green or gray lichens. The pulp of the fruit body is firm, woody, brown at the break. Infection of trees with a pine sponge is possible through broken branches, damage and cracks in the bark. Most often pines become infected at the age of 40-50 years. Mycelium usually quickly passes into the central part of the trunk, where the development of variegated rot begins. The first stages of the disease are characterized by the fact that a red-brown color appears in the central part of the tree. Then in the wood voids are formed, filled with white spots of cellulose. Usually by this time the fruit bodies of a pine sponge are formed on the trunk of the diseased tree. Fruit bodies dispel spores during the entire warm period, especially strongly in wet weather. In overmature pine forests and cedar forests (180–200 years), the percentage of infected trees is quite high. There are frequent dead trees, broken by the wind due to the strong development in the trunks of the central rot.

  False tinder

False tinder  This fungus is one of the most common species in our area that affects the stems of many hardwoods (birch, willow, aspen, mountain ash). In all cases, false tinder causes white striped rot that develops in the core of the affected tree. At the initial stage of decay, the wood becomes red-brown in color, and at the final stage it becomes soft and light, completely losing mechanical strength.

The infection of a tree with a fungus usually occurs through wounds caused by mechanical damage, animals, insects, as well as through broken off dead branches. The fruity bodies of the tindery perennial, woody, diverse in shape - most often hoof-shaped or pillow-shaped, less often - prostrate. Their surface is dark gray, sometimes almost black, fissured with concentric grooves. The inner fabric is rusty brown, hard. On the underside of the fruit body are reddish-brown short tubes with very small, slightly visible round pores through which the spores of the fungus are released. The appearance of fruit bodies, some features of the development of rot in a number of breeds have given reason to single out several forms of false tinder confined to certain tree species — birch, mountain ash, willow.

False tinder fruit bodies have been trying to use for a long time. However, due to the great hardness, this tinder gave only a bad tinder. There are indications of the use of false tinder fruit bodies in traditional medicine as an antitumor agent.

  Real tinder

This tindery.  This tinder grows in our conditions on various hardwoods (birch, willow, aspen) and causes white or light yellow mixed rot. They also call this rot marble-like, because in the rotten wood one can see numerous black lines and dashes consisting of brown cells of the fungus. The infection penetrates the trunk through wounds. Quickly growing mycelium spreads in the sapwood, from where it passes to the center of the trunk. Usually weakened trees are infected, but sometimes the tinder is found on the trunks of quite viable trees. By the time the fruit bodies of the fungus appear, the tree is so destroyed by rot that it is easily broken by the wind. The fruit bodies of this tinder are rather beautiful. They are perennial, hoof-shaped, attached to the substrate with a wide base. Top fruit bodies are gray, light brown. The pulp of the fruit body is soft, yellow-brown, suede. From the bottom of the fruit body there are tubules, 2-4 cm long with small rounded pores, through which spores of the fungus pour out. July evening in the slanting rays of the sun you can see a cloud of dispute under the fruit bodies of tinderbirds. Infected wood is brownish at first, then turns yellow. In the final stage of destruction, the wood becomes very light and is divided into annual layers into thin plates.

In wet conditions of blackened taiga, the fruit bodies of this tinder can grow to huge sizes. Saw fruit bodies up to 80 cm in diameter. The fruit bodies of this tinder were previously used to produce the best tinder varieties. The pulp of the fruiting body in folk medicine was used as a hemostatic agent. As a hemostatic, the flesh was used in surgery.

Soft suede core fruit bodies were also used for the manufacture of hats and gloves. Beautiful tinder hats can be used for various handicrafts, sometimes they were used as pots for climbing plants.

  Birch sponge

Birch sponge. This mushroom is a common, often found in our forests, - a destroyer of wood trunks and branches of birch trees. The birch sponge causes red-brown rot, primarily destroying the wood of dead parts of the tree (shrunken top of the trunk, thick branches), from which rot spreads into living tissues, gradually leading the tree to death. The fruit bodies of the fungus are rather peculiar, annual, rounded or kidney-shaped, slightly convex at the top, with a rounded edge and a small lateral leg. On top of the caps are smooth, light brown or grayish with a thin skin in the form of a freely separating film. The tissue of the fruit body is white, gently corky. In the early stages of development of rot, the wood becomes yellow-brown in color, then becomes red-brown, rotten, and easily rubbed into the powder with fingers.

The birch sponge attracted attention because the extracts from this fungus showed antitumor activity. Polyporeic acid isolated from birch sponge has a clearly expressed anti-inflammatory effect, which is not inferior in its strength to cortisone. In addition, polyprenic acid has an antibiotic effect. Previously, birch sponge fruit bodies were used to produce first-class drawing charcoal.

  Chaga

Stinger - chaga. Causes yellow-white core birch rot. Infected wood at the beginning of the disease becomes yellow-brown in color, then light yellow spots and stripes appear in it. Chaga itself has the appearance of irregular, rough, with black cracked surface growths. The formation of such growth causes the death of the cortex, so the chaga is almost always located in a recess on the trunk. The buildup usually appears in the place of the greatest development of rot, gradually expanding, it increases in size. An inexperienced person often takes for chaga rounded nodules, growths on birch trunks (caps), covered with dark fissured bark. However, on closer examination, one can always distinguish chaga from a cap. Chaga grows throughout the life of the affected tree. The development of the barren fungus stage, which is chaga, ceases from the moment the tree dies. On the dead and windbreak trunks of a birch under the bark, the inonotus fungus begins to form. The appearance of the fruit body developing under the bark is very peculiar. Usually it is a dark brown, brown, thick film with tucked edges protruded along the trunk, covered with rounded, mostly oblique tubules. On the border of the fruit body, special stop plates are visible, due to the pressure of which the bark is separated from the wood. The fruit body of the fungus released from under the bark releases spores, then shrinks, cracks, dies off and disappears into pieces.

In connection with the extensive search for anti-cancer therapeutic agents, the sterile form of the mushroom Inonotus Chaga was given much attention. The long-term experience of traditional medicine served as an impetus for studying the antitumor effect of chaga.

Decoction of the fungus in folk medicine was used as a remedy for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, sometimes used for cancer. About chaga found instructions and in the old print works - reference books and Russian herbalists.

The active substance of this fungus is humic-like chagic acid, which has strong physiological activity. Chagi preparations, which have been tested on patients in the First Leningrad Medical Institute for a number of years, have proven beneficial in treating cancer in various stages. However, the use of drugs from chagi for the treatment of precancerous diseases such as chronic gastritis and gastric ulcer has proven to be more effective.

Ezhevik northern. This fungus develops on birch trees, causing yellow-white heart rot. Birch fungus infects through frost cracks, mechanical damage to the bark. The mycelium penetrates the core of the tree, where it causes the destruction of the wood. Fungal bodies of the fungus are formed in the zones of frost-cracking, in the places of branching of large branches, in the places of the branches of the branches. The fruit bodies of the fungus have an ellipsoidal shape, they consist of numerous tiles tiled, fused at the base, white or yellowish caps. From above the caps are smooth, or bristly, radially wrinkled, quickly populated by penicillus fungi and become brownish-green. The underside of the northern blackberry fruit bodies is covered with soft spines. The fruit bodies of the fungus are annuals, at the end of the summer they are quickly destroyed by insects.

However, this fungus is quite interesting in another respect - at one time it was widely used as a medicinal raw material. Larch sponge was used in ancient times. Thus, in the writings of Dioscorides (a famous doctor of the 1st century AD), larch sponge was given great attention - the diseases cured with the use of this fungus are listed, the dosages and methods for taking the medicine are indicated. The list of diseases is very wide: bruises, asthma, jaundice, dysentery, tuberculosis and others. Pliny (I century AD) and the Roman doctor Galen (129-200 AD) also paid considerable attention to the larch sponge. In the modern pharmacopoeia, the larch sponge occupies a modest place, although as early as the beginning of the 19th century in Western Europe it was included in the “Elixirs of life” common at that time.

The fruit bodies of the larch sponge contain up to 70% of resinous substances. This amount was not found in any living organism. The active principle is one of these resinous substances, belonging to a strong laxative. Fruit bodies also contain agaricic acid, which is beneficial in cases of excessive sweating in tuberculosis. At the beginning of our century, Russia was the main supplier of larch sponge to the European market.

The use of larch sponge was not limited to its use as a medicine. In North America, it was used to brew home brew, replacing hops. In Yakutia, it was used instead of soap for washing clothes, and also received excellent red paint by boiling the fruit bodies of the sponge with the bedstraw roots.

Sulfur yellow tinder

Sulfur yellow tinder.On the trunks of old larches, one can often see groups of wavy, relatively thin, straw-yellow caps arranged in several tiers. These are the fruiting bodies of the sulfur yellow tinder. They are annuals, in the form of plates reaching 50 cm in length and 20 cm in width; their surface is often ray-folded. The flesh of the cap is white or light yellow. On the underside of the cap there are tubes with light yellow pores. Penetration of sulfur yellow cinder in the trunk occurs mainly from the lower part of the trunk through broken branches or frost cracks. At first, the trunk wood becomes pink, and stripes of a colorless mycelium appear in it, accumulating in the wood vessels. In the final stage of decay, the wood becomes brown in color, cracks appear in it, filled with thick films of the mycelium. Sulfur yellow tinder is a very beautiful mushroom. However, in the dry state it is fragile, it crumbles easily.

  Lacquered tinder

Lacquered tinder  This mushroom has a very peculiar appearance, and it can usually not be confused with any other tinder. For the lacquered tinder there is a short lateral leg, painted, like the cap itself, in a brownish-purple or chestnut-brown color. A hat with a shiny lacquered peel, round, fan-shaped, woody. Bottom of the cap is a dense layer of whitish tubes. Lacquered tinder fruit bodies are formed on bare roots of larches, usually along pack trails and cattle runners. Infection of larches in this case occurs through the sites of damage to the roots. The fungus can also develop on old stumps and fallen larches. It is very decorative and can serve as an ornament to any mushroom collection.

Spruce sponge.  Common fungus that grows in the fir. The fruit bodies of this spruce sponge are formed on the trunks of living firs in the form of side-mounted thin semicircular caps. The surface of the caps is velvety or bristly, reddish-brown, further brownish black. The rot caused by the sponge is first reddish-brown, later becoming variegated due to the appearance of white spots - accumulations of cellulose.

Pinkish tinder  The fungus is found in old spruce forests, develops on old spruces, as well as on lying trunks and stumps. The fruit bodies of the fungus are very beautiful - these are groups of flat, thin, rounded hats, assembled into tiled groups. On top of the cap is brownish-pink, the layer of tubules on the bottom of the cap is violet-pink.

Visiting the forest, remember that with the onset of the sporulation period, the fungi will throw out billions of spores that will fall into the bark breaks, on broken branches and other damage to trees. Under favorable conditions, spores will germinate, and the development of a dangerous fungal disease destroying the tree will begin. Therefore, all who love nature, must remember that any damage to the tree can lead to further infection of the tree with rot and its death.