Foraging Turkey Tail and Birch Polypore Mushrooms and how to use them

Bev
Aug 6
7 min read

Updated: Aug 28

This article is about foraging and working with two of the easiest fungae to identify: Turkey Tail Mushrooms and Birch Polypore Mushrooms. Whilst I don't claim to be an expert in mushroom foraging, there are a few I know well and am happy to identify and harvest. And two easily identifiable mushrooms, widely regarded as having medicinal properties, are turkey tail and birch polypore.

It is essential that you know what you’re doing before you start picking fungae in the countryside. As the old saying goes: “there are old foragers, and there are bold foragers. But there are no old, bold foragers.”

As the old saying goes: “there are old foragers, and there are bold foragers. But there are no old, bold foragers”.

Drying turkey tail mushrooms on the radiator — *This is a reader-supported site and I am an Amazon affiliate.* *That means that if you purchase a product or service using my one of my links, the company compensates me at no cost to you. I only recommend books, products and services I personally use.* And these are Turkey Tail mushrooms drying out on a slightly warm radiator.

Make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for.

Mushrooms have been sought out and picked for their perceived health giving properties and nutritional value since forever. There are many claims made for the medicinal properties of mushrooms. Some of these are backed up by research and evidence, some may be more rooted in folklore than in scientific fact. My approach is to try these things out for myself. If they help me, I use them.

I am only going to talk about 2 'medicinal' mushrooms: Turkey Tail and Birch Polypore. This is largely because they are the two mushrooms of this kind with which I am familiar and which are very easy to identify.

Dried mushrooms are becoming more widely available. However the mushroom supplement industry is largely unregulated, which means that the quality, quantity and origin of the mushrooms you are buying cannot be guaranteed. When you buy Mushroom Coffee, there is no certainty about how much mushroom supplement is in the drink in the first place. Of course some of the evidence for the health benefits of mushroom coffee is debateable anyway . But given that these two reputedly health-promoting mushrooms are widely available and easy to spot, I gather and dry them for my own use.

Responsible foraging for Turkey Tail and Birch Polypore

As with all foraging, only harvest what you plan to use, leave behind more than you take, and ensure you adhere to the Code of Conduct for the Conservation and Enjoyment of Wild Plants. Most importantly of all, particularly when we're talking about picking and consuming: never ever pick any wild plant or fungi unless you are 100% certain that you have correctly identified it.

For the avoidance of doubt, this website is not intended to help you identify the mushrooms without using any other resource. Please find a good mushroom guide (preferably a human one, especially if you're new to this) to do that. Mushroom identifying and foraging workshops are far more commonplace than they used to be and you may be able to find one in your area to get started.

Turkey Tail Mushrooms

Turkey Tails are known by 3 latin names: Trametes versicolor, Coriolus versicolor, and Polyporus versicolor. All three names apply to the same common medicinal mushroom. They got their name because they look like a turkey's tail. Whilst technically impossible to eat, they are believed to be of medicinal value and are highly prized in many parts of the world.

Turkey tail mushrooms contain polysaccharide peptide (PSP) and polysaccharide krestin (PSK), believed to help the immune system respond to infection and minor illnesses like the common cold. Some claim that they can help patients who are receiving chemotherapy, and turkey tail mushrooms are considered valuable in the treatment of cancers (source).

Turkey tails grow all year round. They can be beautiful to look at with contrasting coloured stripes on the top, and a creamy white or white underneath with small pores. The white surface with pores underneath is what makes them easy to distinguish from any similar mushrooms. The colours on the top range from light to dark brown, reddish-brown to light grey, and dark grey to almost black. They present as multiple overlapping tiers of thin, tough, leathery, multicoloured brackets, usually with frilly edges, and usually on dead wood.

Turkey tails are pretty easy to identify. Between the contrasting stripes on the top (rather than being thin, overlapping mushrooms which are mostly one colour) and the pores on the underside, it's usually obvious if you have found them. If there are no pores underneath and the mushroom is completely smooth on the underside, then it isn't turkeytail. Whilst there are no poisonous lookalikes, there are similar-looking mushrooms out there which are not turkey tails which are not believed to have the same medicinal benefits. So if you're looking for them, at the very least get a detailed identification book.

They're easy to cut off from the wood to which they're attached with a pair of scissors or a knife.

Using Turkey Tail Mushrooms

Turkey Tail mushrooms are not pleasant to eat, in fact they are impossible. You need to boil them or dry them and then you can make a tea, tincture or a powdered supplement.

I don't boil them in water because it takes about an hour to extract the goodness from the mushrooms. Instead I dry Turkey Tail Mushrooms on a piece of kitchen towel on a windowsill above the radiator. They may throw out a few spores in the process, and this is normal.

Drying turkey tail mushrooms for mushroom coffee — Turkey tail mushrooms growing on the radiator. I later ground these in a coffee grinder and added small amount of them to my coffee over the winter.

Then if the oven has been on, I pop them in to the warm (not hot) oven to finish them off in the residual heat. You can also dry them in a dehydrator. Ensure they are totally dry before you store them to avoid mould developing. Mould is very bad news, it can be quite lethal in fact when drying mushrooms, and you must avoid it at all costs.

Once completely dry, grind them to a powder in a pestle and mortar or a coffee grinder. Then you can add a teaspoon of mushroom powder to boiling water to make a tea. On its own it's pretty 'earthy' to say the least, so you can add other things to that to make it a bit more pleasant to drink (fresh ginger, turmeric, honey...). Or add it to something else, like golden milk, or to coffee for your own homemade mushroom coffee. I only add a small amount to avoid the very earthy flavour masking the coffee taste and, as I drink a lot of coffee, my body receives the benefits little and often.

Birch Polypore Mushrooms

Birch Polypore Fomitopsis betulina has long been regarded as medicinal in similar ways to the turkey tail. Birch Polypore is much bigger, it can be anything from 5cm to an enormous 30cm wide. Kidney or rough shell-shaped, it is also inedible.

You will find Birch Polypore on dead or dying birch trees from about August to November. Sometimes you see them growing layered down a birch tree like a ladder which looks very cool. If you see them outside these months check them carefully, as they can be infested with maggots if they are rotting.

Birch Polypore mushrooms are smooth and light brown on the top. They have a white porous underneath, almost like polystyrene. This turns more brown as it matures. Birch Polypore has no look alikes and, because it appears exclusively on birch trees, that helps to make identification straightforward. You will need a sharp knife to harvest it. Again, it is assumed that you are not relying on this blog to identify anything. Please ensure you identify all mushrooms correctly with the use of a good guide, preferably a human one.

Birch Polypore is believed to be anti viral and it can staunch bleeding. When it's very fresh, you can use a knife to remove the surface of the white underneath and stick it to your flesh as a natural plaster. It's also known as razorstrop fungus, and was traditionally used to sharpen knife blades. Birch Polypore was found on Oetzi the Iceman, the man whose 5300 year old body was discovered in the Italian Alps in 1991.

Birch Polypore contains a compound called piptamine, which is regarded as an antibiotic. It is anti viral, anti inflammatory and has been used to treat stomach conditions. If eaten in large quantities it can act as a laxative, but since it is inedible in its natural state and tastes bitter, you would probably struggle to consume it in sufficient quantities to cause a problem. Birch Polypore also has alleged benefits to cancer patients which are the subject of research (source).

Using Birch Polypore

The easiest way to get the benefits of birch polypore is in a tea. You can dehydrate the mushrooms by slicing them up and laying them on a windowsill or a rack. Once completely dry you can store the pieces in jars. Take a slice, pour over some boiling water and leave for a few minutes for your tea. Again you can disguise the bitter taste with some spices or other flavouring of your choice. For example turmeric, ginger and birch polypore is a good anti-inflammatory combination, infused together in a teapot.

Final Thoughts on Turkey Tail and Birch Polypore

As two of the easiest to identify, these two mushrooms are a good 'entry point' to mushroom foraging. Whilst you can never pick them and enjoy them on toast because they're both inedible, it is possible to introduce them and their perceived health benefits into your diet through teas and infusions.