UK Ganoderma complex

[dervishcarving]

David, you know yer fungi! Recognising a problem fungus purely from a small external fruiting body is dam impressive! I did my PhD on molecular genetics looking at molecular phylogeny of some plant and insect parasitic fungi (Verticillium species). Since then i have not had much to do with mycology but i know a few that specialise in that field. You sir, you could stand with the best of them. you knows yer onions (if you know what i mean). Colour me impressed

[daltontrees]

The last image shows immature spores which if taken purely on size may indicate applanatum, but these were in fact australe spores.

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Aaaah, I see. Sort of makes sense but sort of makes me want to run away screaming. Clearly it's a subject considerably larger than my brain.

[David Humphries]

..........Just out of curiousity, Was the ash tree showing significant signs of decline in the crown? And was there Just one small fruiting body with all that decay?

 

Matt.

 

 

The canopy had leaves but the branch framework had a significant Inonotus hispidus colonisation and was shedding branches.

 

 

 

The Ganoderma never really put on large brackets that I can recall, I'm pretty sure it was only ever that poorly formed fruit body.

 

 

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[Agent-Arb]

Nice one David, good to see - thanks, as ever, for sharing.

 

Is the difference on Andy's paper between image 3 & 4, the separating layer, something to be seen reliably in the field (from cutting a slice) do both of you think? May save the microscopy if so..?

 

All the best

[Kveldssanger]

Lovely post, David. Still itching to see G. carnosum.

 

At Burnham, I found a bracket that looked like applanatum though was in fact australe, as confirmed by measuring the spore.

 

Andy's article was a great one to help simplify the issue, certainly!

[Arctostaphylos uva-ursi]

Francis Schwarze has looked in detail at the differences between applanatum and australe and showed (via inoculations of London Plane wood volumes) that the former is saprotrophic in nature and generally concerned with hosts that have dysfunctional xylem and in lab conditions couldn't breach the defensive reaction zone as opposed to australe (and resinaceum and pfeifferi) which could breach the reaction zone. Hence G. australe is deemed to be parasitic (as well as saprotrophic)

 

Have a read of the link below for further details

 

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/attachments/fungi-pictures/116928d1362903479-ganoderma-enspec-20research-20paper-20-20ganoderma-20on-20trees.pdf

 

 

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Many thanks David.

[David Humphries]

David, you know yer fungi! Recognising a problem fungus purely from a small external fruiting body is dam impressive! I did my PhD on molecular genetics looking at molecular phylogeny of some plant and insect parasitic fungi (Verticillium species). Since then i have not had much to do with mycology but i know a few that specialise in that field. You sir, you could stand with the best of them. you knows yer onions (if you know what i mean). Colour me impressed

 

 

 

Sounds like a fascinating PhD Dave, sometimes wish I'd taken that route.

 

Thanks for your encouraging words, it's appreciated,

though I'm still learning my fungi, its a sneaky kingdom it just won't sit still

 

 

 

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Edited March 28, 2017 by David Humphries

[dervishcarving]

Those pesky mycologists keep arguing with us molecular biologists leading to renaming and re classifications.. it keeps us all amused on a rainy day

[Kveldssanger]

Confirmed Ganoderma australe on an impossibly ivy-clad but still living larch (Larix decidua). First record in the country, is my understanding. Found at Mote Park in Maidstone. Cuticle consistently over 1mm thick and spore over 10 microns in length - again, consistently.

 

Another species to add to the list that this fungus inhabits.

[sloth]

Good thread. Kveld, do you carry out your own microscopy now?