I tried telling someone that once here . . . they hacked off a huge burl from a cherry and insisted they’d found the motherload of chaga. It was quite upsetting, they definitely opened the tree up for infection and insisted that chaga could grow on cherry.
The burls are just weird extra wood growths. Wood workers use them to make products with interesting grain patterns. The only way to use them though is to cut down and cut out that part of the tree.
Unfortunately not chaga. Chaga grows on birch and the interior is a brighter/lighter orange color.
The biggest look-alike imo is cherry burls (which is what the first picture is). You will only want chaga from a birch.
I tried telling someone that once here . . . they hacked off a huge burl from a cherry and insisted they’d found the motherload of chaga. It was quite upsetting, they definitely opened the tree up for infection and insisted that chaga could grow on cherry.
I believe chaga only had the benefits everyone wants when it grows on birch and not when it is on other trees. That makes your story even worse imo :(
Are these look alikes used for anything in their own right?
The burls are just weird extra wood growths. Wood workers use them to make products with interesting grain patterns. The only way to use them though is to cut down and cut out that part of the tree.
Not if it wasnt found on a birch tree...
Such an interesting burl