Chaga
Scientific Name: Inonotus obliquus
Synonyms: Chaga mushroom, Tschaga, "King of medicinal mushrooms," Tinder fungus
Distribution and Habitat in Nature: Saprobiont (secondary decomposer) and weak parasite, found on living and dead trees. It is circumboreal in distribution, commonly found in Russia, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Japan, Korea, and Central Asia (Kazakhstan). It is very rare and protected in Western and Southern Europe.
Ingredients: Over 200 active biological substances, including melanins, polysaccharides, triterpenes, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, and more.
Suitable Substrate: Birch trees, rarely on oak (often near woodpecker holes) and alder.
Usage: Medicinal mushroom, healing mushroom, tinder, incense
Our ancestors used Chaga as a remedy in traditional medicine. It is consumed as a tea infusion. Recently, it is also used as a coffee substitute. In the Neolithic period, it was used as tinder to start and transport fires.
Taxonomy:
Kingdom: Fungi
Class: Agaricomycetes
Subclass: Incertae sedis (uncertain placement)
Order: Hymenochaetales (tinder fungi)
Family: Hymenochaetaceae (tinder fungus family)
Genus: Inonotus
Species: Inonotus obliquus (Chaga mushroom)
Spores: Elliptical, smooth basidiospores, 7.5–10 × 5–7.5 µm, golden-yellow
