History of trying to confirm, or disprove my find of the fruiting body.

The experts in my discussion group chose to be silent.  I tried writing Tom Volk to see if he would be willing to take a look at a specimen and give me his opinion as to whether it is the fruiting body or no.  He did not reply.  Recently I decided to write to Leon Shernoff, editor of Mushroom the Journal, and asked him if he knew of someone who would be able to look at a specimen and tell me if I found what I thought I found.  Pleasant surprise!  Leon answered in a few days and had a name and address of Daniel L. Lindner who works at
US Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Center for Forest Mycology Research.

Here is my original message to Leon on 11/8/08:
 I have been hunting mushrooms since 2002, so I consider myself a beginner. About 2 years ago I became interested in the growth on birch trees which are referred as Clinker Polypore (in mushroom guides) and is called Chaga in Russia. I was surprised that the guides referred to this growth on the infected trees instead of showing the fruiting body of Inonotus obliquus. I understood that practically no one has ever seen the true fruiting body and so no good photographs exist. Since I am retired and have plenty of time, I decided to give it a shot. To my great surprise, on my 5th try I found what I believe to be the elusive fruiting body. I outline my search on this page:
http://www.mushroomhunter.net/fbquest.htm

Here are my pictures of what I believe is the true fruiting body. There several pages of pictures including spore pictures.
http://www.mushroomhunter.net/091208.htm

I have some dry samples. Do you know of anyone who could look at this and tell me if I am right or wrong? I would be willing to send them a sample. Thanks.
Vladimir Gubenko

Leon wrote to Daniel L. Lindner first, enclosing my message:
 Hey, Dan
Any thoughts on this? As far as I can see, what he's found looks more like a Hypoxylon anamorph...

Dan's reply to Leon:
Hi Leon,
The first page definitely shows a resupinate polypore fruiting body that certainly could be I. obliquus. I'd be happy to take a look at the dried fruiting body and confirm if he's willing to send it (my address is below). According to Leif Ryvarden, the easiest way to find the fruiting body is to look for it once the tree falls. Apparently it's relatively rare to see on standing trees, but not so uncommon once the tree falls (but you have to get there within a year or two of it falling). Nonetheless, I've never actually been able to find one myself......
Best wishes,
Dan

My message to Dan.
Leon sent me a copy of your reply, shown below.
I am currently away from home but will return in a day or two.  I will be happy to send you a sample of this polypore which I found and suspect is the fruiting body of Inonotus obliquus.
Tom Volk posted this on the Mushroom Observer site:
 “By: Tom Volk (TomVolk)
Summary: Anyone ever seen the fruiting body?
Despite extensive searches, I’ve never seen the fruiting body. Hal Burdsall has never seen it. Leif Ryvarden (of Gilbertson and Ryvarden) has never seen it. Has anyone ever actually seen the fruiting body?
—-tom”

 If this is true, Leif Ryvarden, should not be giving advice on how to find it, since he never found one :o)  This might be one of the reasons so few people ever saw it?  Here in MA the dead birch tends to remain in the standing position for many years.  I would estimate that the birch I found the fruiting body on was dead about 6 to 8 years.  All the braches and top of the tree were missing, but some Clinker Polypore was still present.

Dan's reply:
Dear Vladimir,  

That's interesting that the birch in your area stay standing for so long after dying.  Most of the birch in our area fall quickly (2-4 years), but I think that's mainly because we primarily have paper birch (Betula paperifera).  My guess is that yellow birch (the other birch in our area) would stay around longer, but yellow birch has become relatively rare, so I don't see it that often. Do you know what species of birch your sample was on?  As for packing, so long as the specimen is dry it shouldn't matter so much how you pack it, so long as it's in a sturdy container.  Pictures would be fine, but not critical - the identifying characteristics will mainly be microscopic (and I may sequence DNA, just to confirm the ID).  I'm currently working with Leif Ryvarden on the genus Daedalea, so I'll have to ask him if he's really never seen the fruiting body of I. obliquus!

Best wishes,

Dan

I mailed the specimen of the fruiting body on 11/11/08 by UPS.  Tracking number 1z010X400325947440.  After mailing I sent a message to Dan.  His reply:

Thank you, Vlad.  I'll let you know when I receive it and will let you know what I'm able to learn from it.  I checked our herbarium, which has over 50,000 specimens from many collectors going back to the early 1900's, and we don't have any collections of I. obliquus!

Yours,
Dan

Tracking confirmed that it arrived on 11/14 at 8:08am and the receipt was signed by "Keifer".  It was delivered from the distribution center in Middleton WI. 

On 11/16 Bill Yule, aka "Boletebill" posted the following message:

 I am NOT a heavy gun in the area of polypore ID's but I would just venture the opinion that the pictures you provided of I. obliquus are consistent with the written description of the fruiting body found in Stefen Buczacki's "Fungi of Britain and Europe".

"Fruit Body: Irregular, annual, resupinate,effused, at first whitish, then brown, smooth, porous. Tubes obliquely slanting, whitish. Pores 3-5/mm, angular, elongated. Spore print white. Flesh whitish, soft, corky, then hard when dry....Spores ellipsoid, smooth, 5-7.5 x 8-10...setae 25-45 brown, narrowly awl shaped..." The small illustration is little help, showing a flat tan effused polypore section. Hope this helps. I've never looked for the fruit body but from here on I will.

Bill Yule

On Monday, 11/17 I sent the following message to Dan:

According to UPS Tracking, the package was delivered to your place at about 8 am on Friday. A person by the name of “Keifer” signed for it. I assume that this is a person in your receiving department? Hope it did not get lost after getting there :o)

The other day I went and explored a stand of Black Birch. I found two snags, about 10’ high, that showed signs of a fruiting body that must have appeared this year but now is pretty much deteriorated. I made a point of locating and examining the top portions of the trees which were lying on the ground and did not find any signs of cracked and lifted bark. So I would say that on Yellow and Black Birch Inonotus obliquus prefers to fruit on standing snags. I look forward to next year and finding more of these fruiting bodies.

One of the experts in my discussion group, Bill Yule, finally admitted that he thinks it is the elusive fruiting body. In his words:
“I am NOT a heavy gun in the area of polypore ID's but I would just venture the opinion that the pictures you provided of I. obliquus are consistent with the written description of the fruiting body found in Stefen Buczacki's "Fungi of Britain and Europe".”

Vlad

On 11/19/08 I received the message, shown below, that gives initial confirmation of my find:

From: Daniel L. Lindner
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:14 AM
To: Vlad
Subject: RE: Inonotus obliquus FB

Dear Vlad,

Thanks to your careful packing, the specimen arrived in great condition. That is particularly impressive given it's fragile nature. Macroscopically, the fruiting body fits the description of I. obliquus very well. It seems to be a very ephemeral fruiting body, which may be one of the reasons it is so rarely observed.
Unfortunately I leave early tomorrow morning for a two week trip to Malaysia. When I return I will do a microscopic analysis to see if your specimen matches the description of I. obliquus in all regards. I will also take a small sample for DNA sequencing. Interestingly, it looks like there are about four ITS sequences (the region of DNA used for species ID) of Inonotus obliquus that have been deposited in GenBank (the public library of DNA sequences). However, I think all of these sequences are from China, and none of them mention if they were obtained from cultures or fruiting bodies.
I've also checked our culture collection, and we have eight cultures that were isolated directly from trees. Three of the isolations were made in the 1930's, four during the 1960's, and the most recent one is from 1970. I may sequences those too, which would give us a basis for comparison.
Is it OK if I deposit your specimen in our herbarium? You would of course be listed as the collector and as the person who made the initial identification. I will try to get back to this once I return from my trip, but if you don't hear anything, email me to remind me!
Best wishes,
Dan

He also wrote this in a follow-up message.  This is a reply to my questioning Leif's ability to give advise as to how to find the fruiting body of Inonotus obliquus since there is evidence that he never saw one :o)

I was just emailing Leif Ryvarden, so I remembered to ask him if he has ever collected the fruiting body, or has any in his herbarium. Now that I think about it, I'm beginning to wonder if it was Bob Blanchette who told me that you can find the fruiting bodies on down trees, and not Ryvarden. That would fit better with what other people have said. The conversation I had was in 1996, which I can't believe is already 12 years ago! We shall see what Ryvarden's response is, and I'll ask around to a few other people too.
Best,
Dan

I waited for Dan to get back from his Malaysia trip plus about a week to do things that he has to do then I wrote him on 12/10:

Dan,
I hope you had a successful trip to Malaysia.
Did you get a reply from Leif Ryvarden?
I have been exploring a Black Birch grove and have found many dead birch which are likely candidates for fruiting bodies for next year. So far, I have found 3 snags with remains of old fruiting bodies on them. In all cases they were on standing snags from 6’ to 12’ high. It seams logical, to me, that the fruiting body is produced on standing birch rather than those which are lying on the ground because the oblique fruiting body can grow on the entire trunk, with pores pointing down to the ground, while those on the ground they have very little surface area where the fruiting body can do the same.
Have you had a chance to further study that Inonotus obliquus fruiting body I sent you?
Vlad

Dan replied on 12/12:

Hi Vlad,
The trip to Malaysia was great with lots of fungi that looked like
they were from outer space, but now I have to dig out from everything
that accumulated while I was gone. I haven't had a chance to look at
the fruiting body yet (sorry), but will hopefully do so in the next
few weeks (once I get back to my microscope again).
Here at any rate is the response from Ryvarden:

Yes we find the basidiocasrps of I obliquus now and then, but it is rare
since it apparently are eaten by beetles very rapidly, thus yu mostly find
small fragment left - remember it fruits only the year after the tree dies
and then never again - very strange indeed.

I'm beginning to think more and more that it was Bob Blanchette who
told me that he finds it on trees once they fall down. I'll email
and see if I can get a response. Good luck with your prospecting,
hopefully your work will help to accumulate some data on this species!
Yours,
Dan

Ryvarden's reply to Dan does not answer the question whether Ryvarden has found the fruiting body himself.  Here is a message from Dan to Bob Blanchette and Bob's answer:

Hi Bob,
Not sure if this is still your current email address, but I thought
I'd give it a try. A gentleman from MA by the name of Vladimir
Gubenko sent me a sample of what I believe is the fruiting body of I.
obliquus. I've never seen it before and our herbarium has no
fruiting bodies (just sterile cankers). I asked Ryvarden and he says
he sees the fruiting body now and then, but it is rare because it
only fruits the year after the tree dies, and it is quickly eaten by
beetles.

I remember talking to you years ago (at a NCFPW meeting?) about I.
obliquus, and I though you said you saw it now and then on down
trees. Just curious if you have any observations about how to find
fruiting bodies of this species, and if you have any reference
material in your collection. We have cultures that were isolated
directly from trees (so at least I could sequence that for
reference), but no fruiting bodies.

Best wishes,
Dan

Hi Dan,
You have a good memory. The fruiting body, which just looks like a
brownish pore layer can be found on standing dead trees or those on
the ground. It seems to form under the bark as it separates and
cracks. It does get destroyed by insects and getting good samples is
not easy. I am surprised you do not have fruiting bodies of this in
the collections. We have lots of the sterile conks in the teaching
collection since this is what people see but I will keep a look out
for the fruiting bodies. If you have a stand with lots of old birch
and obliquus you will find it - or remnants of it under the bark of
the dead trees.
Bob

1/22/09  After a DNA test done by Dan Lindner

Sorry, the word wasn't good.... I sequenced lots of interesting yeast species from the sample, but no I. obliquus! I suppose that's not too surprising, given the nature of the specimen (lots of loose material). I'm blocking out time tomorrow to sit down at my microscope - it's absolutely terrible that I have so little time to sit down with samples! I'm pretty confident you've got your ID correct, but it's always good to take a look.
Dan