Really, birch cancer...

The Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus), also known as tinder mushroom, is a fungus in Hymenochaetaceae family. It is a parasitic fungus of the Birch and other trees. The sterile conk is irregularly formed and has the appearance of burnt charcoal. It causes the tree's death in 5-7 years, and is known as "birch cancer" in Russia, but like many medicinal mushrooms contains many of its own anti-tumor compounds.

Sounds yummy.

I had some of that crap on one of my trees long ago, it looked really nasty.

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