Fomitopsis pinicola

Description
Mushroom Identification
Look-Alikes
Uses
Medicinal Properties
Fomitopsis pinicola Dual Extract Recipe
Fomitopsis pinicola Tea Recipe
History
Synonyms and Varieties
Video

Description

Fomitopsis pinicola is a brown rot Basidiomycete species commonly collected on dead conifer trees. An orange or red band is nearly always present between the older annual layers and the current layer, making this polypore instantly recognizable. It is inedible but used for making tincture and tea. The basidiocarps of the species are perennial and persist for many years producing a new layer of hymenophore every growing season. It is found in Europe, Asia, America, Canada, and central Mexico.

The role of Fomitopsis pinicola in the conifer forests is very important as the species is one of the most prominent wood decayers in these ecosystems and thus play important role in the carbon cycle.

Grows on dead conifers, but can also develop on large stem wounds, broken tops, and dead tissue of live trees. In mature forests, these stem decay fungi cause enormous annual wood volume loss of Alaska’s major tree species. Approximately one-third of the old-growth timber board-foot volume in Southeast Alaska is defective, largely due to decay from this type of fungus.

Cavities created by the Fomitopsis pinicola in standing trees provide crucial habitat for many wildlife species including bears, voles, squirrels, and several bird species.

At the end of the lifecycle, the pores of the Fomitopsis pinicola are closed by a whitish wax.

Common names: Red Belted Polypore, Rotrandiger Baumschwamm (German), Fichtenporling (German), Roodgerande houtzwam (Netherlands), Polypore marginé (France), Troudnatec Pásovaný (Czech Republic), Randbæltet hovporesvamp (Denmark), Kännupess (Estonia), Kantokääpä (Finland), Szegett tapló (Hungery), Latvia: Parastā apmalpiepe, Apmalotā piepe, Klibbticka (Sweden), Smrekova kresilača (Slovenia), Práchnovček pásikavý (Slovakia), ﾂｶﾞｻﾙﾉｺｼｶｹ (Japan).

Mushroom Identification

Cap

Up to about 40 cm across and 10 cm deep; semicircular or fan-shaped; convex or hoof-shaped; smooth, becoming wrinkled with age; appearing varnished toward the margin (and overall when very young); red to dark brownish red (or brown to black toward the point of attachment or when mature), with a white to the yellow marginal area.
Pore Surface

Cream-colored; not bruising significantly; with 3-6 round pores per mm; tube layers usually fairly distinct, up to 8 mm deep. The generally lighter margin, the underside of the cap (tubes) sometimes slightly yellowing and a whitish to creamy ochraceous flesh becoming darker when touched or as it ages are other characteristics of this fungus.
Flesh

Whitish; leathery to woody.
Odor

Musty and strong when fresh.
Season

This mushroom grows all year round and often remains on the ground for several years.
Habitat

Saprobic on the deadwood of conifers and sometimes hardwoods (including birch and aspen); also sometimes parasitic on living trees; causing a brown cubical rot; growing alone or in large groups; perennial; fairly widely distributed in North America where conifers are present but apparently rare to absent in the southeastern United States.

Look-Alikes

Fomitopsis rosea

Smaller, rather hoof-shaped fruits, surface dull, gray-pink to reddish-brown, later blackish. The tubes, pores, and flesh are pink to brownish pink. Grows on fallen spruce and fir trunks in natural stands.
Fomes fomentarius

Less distinctly colored cap surface, white spore dust. The flesh is ochre-brown with concentric banding and a lighter mycelial core.

Uses

Good for decoration purposes in the interior. Spruce polypores do not attract insects (vermin).
For the dyed clothing: color yellow = 9% ammonia (ammonia solution) soak with dried mushrooms overnight. Later leave to steep for 1 hour at 90 ° without boiling, otherwise, a resinous crust will form.
In folk medicine as a raw material for the production of medicines.
In the production of mushroom flavoring.

Medicinal Properties

Has been used in folk medicine as anti-inflammatory, styptic, and antimicrobial.
Ethanol extract showed the greatest activity against cancer cells, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial actions.
Water-soluble Polysaccharide glucans have immune-modulating activity
Use as a tonic to reduce inflammation of the digestive tract. Possibly by controlling cytokine inflammatory response
In one study Fomitopsis pinicola demonstrated very high phenolics concentration and powerful anti-oxidant properties.
High in germanium – an anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, anti-mutagenic, and oxygen catalyst, enhances oxygen supply to the body’s cell’s providing increased energy production.
Blood sugar regulation by normalizing and regulating insulin production due to the hypoglycemic glycans.
Liver detoxifier by bitter terpenoids aiding the removal of toxins in the liver and intestines.
Increases neutrophil count and other white blood cells.
Contains natural steroids that can be useful in arthritis and painful auto-immune and inflammatory diseases
The concentration of triterpenes (hepato-protective, anti-inflammatory) is highest in the crust, and lower in younger fungi.
Contains anti-histamine vegetable sterols.
Fatty acids exhibit circulatory stimulating properties.
Selectively inhibits COX-2, in turn inhibiting synthesis of inflammatory prostaglandins. Selective COX-2 inhibitors are significant, as NSAIDs like aspirin are also COX-1 inhibitors and use of COX-1 inhibitors increases risk of gastric ulcers.

“Because of their bioactivity against gram-positive bacteria, and their potency as anti-fungal agent, we especially consider F. pinicola to be worth further investigation on a molecular level. This fungus was widely applied in traditional European medicine, but its benefits and utilization have been forgotten after the introduction of synthetic drugs. Due to renaissance of naturopathy and also due to increasing bacterial and fungal resistances, working with traditional medicinal fungi is becoming increasingly interesting and rewarding.”