Diagnosis on this sycamore URGENTLY needed? King Alfred's???

[Bootroyd]

This tree clearly needs to come down b4 it flattens the houses right near it, my question is what is the fungi? Looks like King Alfred's to me, thanks for yr help guys and what part of the tree does this fungi live off, dead wood? Canopy looks pretty good, plenty of leaves and no sign of die back on any branches tho clearly the trunk is in a bad way, checkout that crack!

[Mark Wileman]

**In my uneducated opinion** The crack is in the heartwood that is no longer really serving any purpose by the looks of things. This looks like possible abiotic physical damage done when the tree was a lot younger, the occlusions are well developed, confirming this. I'd agree with you on the fungi part, Alfred's cakes that feed off rotting deadwood, and as you can see that the deadwood is no longer serving the tree structurally, the fungi isn't really part of the equation. Was the tree recently fire damaged? Honestly I don't think this tree is as close to collapse as it might look.

[Marula]

There's two parts to this really, how close is this tree to the target? And is it a high footfall area?
The new growth on the tree looks good to me, canopy looks good too. This is obviously one photo and it's really difficult to judge exactly how stable the tree is by this photo.
Daldinia is saprophytic so therefor poses no risk to the living tissue of the tree, I would however have a good look around for secondary infections or colonisations.

[Bootroyd]

Thx very much indeed, some, Good points raised! [emoji1303]

[Northumberland Wildlife Trust]

I would agree with the above, the original damage is most likely caused by something like a bonfire near the base of the tree several years ago! the wounds are healing quite well and over time the tree might recover reasonably well, however the crack low down on the left hand stem is a cause for concern and should be checked more closely! I would replace it with a nice native oak!!

[Coolcutter]

I concur. Fire damage, boiled sap wood a good while ago. There is no chance of the wounds to fully oclude. The radial crack is a great concern, how far and how deep? Either way the tree is inviting more decay. Would be nice to have a good look about, it's a candidate for further inspection.

[openspaceman]

9 minutes ago, Coolcutter said:

I concur. Fire damage, boiled sap wood a good while ago. There is no chance of the wounds to fully oclude. The radial crack is a great concern, how far and how deep? Either way the tree is inviting more decay. Would be nice to have a good look about, it's a candidate for further inspection.

It doesn't need to boil, the cambium just needs to be hot enough to coagulate protein, probably less than 70C.