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Chaga goes by many names: Inonotus obliquus, the king of mushrooms, birch fungus, cinder conch, canker polypore. Its popularity is only beginning to grow in the West. There is a wealth of historical claims and usage stretching back through time, from the Cherokee to Koreans, from Nordics to Siberians. Its renown is worldwide, as it grows in the great Boreal forests of the northern hemisphere.
A cup of Chaga is a joy to drink. It has an earthy, mineral sweetness unlike almost anything else. Its color is a deep, rich, dark brown. It is generally recognized as an adaptogen, as its recorded usages are innumerable.
Since the 12th century, chaga has traditionally been used in Russia for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even cancer…. Chaga (in various combinations with other medicinal plants) has been used for the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers and for various forms of gastritis (Artemova, 2001; Kaukin, 2002). Chaga tea increases general stamina, relieves pain and is used to treat heart, stomach, and liver diseases (Gammerman et al., 1984; Saar, 1991).
Chaga is a fungus that parasitizes the Birch tree. Its spores enter into a wound in the bark, and there it grows, utilizing the minerals and nutrients of the tree, until it bursts forth from the bark, in a polypore reminiscent of charcoal. There it grows, eventually bringing about the death of the Birch, and its own demise. I can’t see the relationship of Chaga and Birch as symbiotic, in the mutually beneficial sense– the S in SCOBY. I see it rather as a marker of nature, its often harsh realities, no less beautiful, if seen from a certain perspective.
“Chaga must be collected only from living or freshly cut old birch trees. On dry standing and fallen trees, Chaga is destroyed, and the content of active compounds decreases dramatically (Shashkina et al., 2006).”
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