Fungi on large Fir. ID help please

[DBHabMan]

Photographed last year at base of large Fir tree. Tree itself looks generally ok; scabby/sparse top but not unusual in that on old fir? New growth flushing now so in that respect seems ok; however it's very close to a building and need to know if we have a potential problem. I have looked at a lot of photos on the database but not coming up with anything. I did think it looked a wee bit like Honey Fungus but the photos of that on here looked a bit darker/waxier??

 

 

Any help much appreciated

Thanks

[David Humphries]

An shots of the stem and gills?

 

 

 

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[swinny]

Ringless honeyfungus?

[Kveldssanger]

Looks like Hypholoma capnoides, which is the conifer tuft. Only a presumption though, due to the lack of close-ups.

[DBHabMan]

sorry no close ups, didn't think at the time and that's all i have I'm afraid...

[DBHabMan]

Thanks. Obviously I should have taken more detailed photos/photos underneath etc. Will know the next time.

 

I'd naively assume that any fungus at the bottom of a tree is never a good sign but to help me try to assess this particular situation.......based on what type of fungi that may be or is likely to be; if this 3 foot dbh, 70ft tall Fir was growing 30 feet from your house; what would be your prognosis?? leave it and see how it fares (I can take more photos later this year and it does look generally outwardly healthy at the moment) or is the safest plan just to have it taken down anyway?)

 

I appreciate on the info Iv'e provided I can't expect a definitive answer but just looking for a bit of guidance for now...

 

D

[Chris at eden]

Are those little spikes on the cap? Looks like Pholiota squarrosa to me but I've never seen it on conifer. Closer pics would be good.

 

Prepare to be shot down by our fungi gurus Chris and David?

 

[DBHabMan]

best i can do

[daltontrees]

best i can do

 

That's got to be useful to the mycoboffins on Arbtalk.

 

Personally they are so much better than me that I ususally sre requetsfor fungal ID, work out what I think it is, write it down on a post-it and wait for the right answer to come in. If I was on Pop Master, I'd have a 'One Year Out' t-shirt by now.

[daltontrees]

I'd naively assume that any fungus at the bottom of a tree is never a good sign but to help me try to assess this particular situation.......

 

Just a general observation here, and be warned I am a bit of a pedant so I am focusing on what was probably an idle choice of preposition by you, viz "at [the bottom]".

 

Fungi that are literally ON the bottom of a tree agre generally bad, they may be either killing and feeding or feeding on dead material (or shades in between), and are cause for closer inspection and fungal ID to arrive at a prognosis for the tree.

 

Fungi AROUND the base of a tree can be good or bad. If they are in reality growing from roots close to the surface, the previous generality applies. But they might just as well be growing in soil close to the tree in a very beneficial symbiotic way, sharing duties with the tree (e.g. they fix nitrogen and in return the trees give them sugars). Identification is of course useful to decide where they lie on the bad/bad sign/neutral/good sign spectrum.

 

For fungi AT the base of a tree, the first thing to do (if the species isn't apparent) is to see if they are growing on the tree or around the tree; this is crucial for a prognosis.