Fungal Brackets | Can you accurately age them?

[Acer ventura]

How old is this fungal bracket?

 

One, two, five years old?

 

I posted some of this in a reply on the Arbcology Facebook page, and thought it might be worth sharing it on here. It’s from an article I’m writing about what appears to be rotten at the roots of the expert evidence the court had to work with in a UK court Judgment known as Cavanagh v Witley Parish Council.

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You can't count pore tube layers, like the candles on a birthday cake, to accurately age a fungal bracket. Perennial fungal brackets don't grow like trees that produce an annual ring each year. They often produce a new layer of pore tubes with each growth spurt. This can happen once, twice, maybe several times a year. Some years there's no growth. Other years there's growth but just the darker brown flesh and no pore tube layer. Those of you who may have heard anecdotal evidence that you can age fungal brackets like this, don't take my word for it. We can ask someone who's an internationally renowned mycologist with particular expertise in decay fungi.

“Layers of pores/tubes on perennial brackets of fungi cannot be reliably used to judge age, because there is not necessarily just one new set per year. There could be several, or perhaps even no new pores”

 

Professor Lynne Boddy, Cardiff University

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Photo credit - David Humphries

[Khriss]

I would give that 4 yrs. But consider the decay 'effective' at 10 plus years. For risk purposes. K

Edited August 1, 2020 by Khriss
(of course i have seen ganoderma size of dinner plates but tree still standing )

[AJStrees]

Interesting concept. Yes how can you age a fungal bracket..

But also that is just the fruiting body. The internal fungi and breakdown could well have been going on a lot longer inside the tree.

How long does the wood take to breakdown and does it depend on white or brown rot.

Lignin or cellulose removal.

Quite a thing to behold.

[AJStrees]

On 01/08/2020 at 16:53, Acer ventura said:

How old is this fungal bracket?

 

One, two, five years old?

 

I posted some of this in a reply on the Arbcology Facebook page, and thought it might be worth sharing it on here. It’s from an article I’m writing about what appears to be rotten at the roots of the expert evidence the court had to work with in a UK court Judgment known as Cavanagh v Witley Parish Council.

…..

You can't count pore tube layers, like the candles on a birthday cake, to accurately age a fungal bracket. Perennial fungal brackets don't grow like trees that produce an annual ring each year. They often produce a new layer of pore tubes with each growth spurt. This can happen once, twice, maybe several times a year. Some years there's no growth. Other years there's growth but just the darker brown flesh and no pore tube layer. Those of you who may have heard anecdotal evidence that you can age fungal brackets like this, don't take my word for it. We can ask someone who's an internationally renowned mycologist with particular expertise in decay fungi.

“Layers of pores/tubes on perennial brackets of fungi cannot be reliably used to judge age, because there is not necessarily just one new set per year. There could be several, or perhaps even no new pores”

 

Professor Lynne Boddy, Cardiff University

.....

Photo credit - David Humphries

Fantastic photo btw David.

[Acer ventura]

On 01/08/2020 at 21:17, Khriss said:

I would give that 4 yrs. But consider the decay 'effective' at 10 plus years. For risk purposes. K

How'd you get those very accurate figures Khriss???

 

 

[Khriss]

@Acer ventura   close but not the truth.  The tree speaks to me actually ?  my brief reply was too brief.  If the bracket IS visible you have to consider that decay HAS been active , possibly for many years and the implications thereof. K

[Paul Cleaver]

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Edited August 8, 2020 by Paul Cleaver
i should read the post fully

[Acer ventura]

2 hours ago, Khriss said:

@Acer ventura   close but not the truth.  The tree speaks to me actually ?  my brief reply was too brief.  If the bracket IS visible you have to consider that decay HAS been active , possibly for many years and the implications thereof. K

I don't doubt the decay's been active before it fruited, but why put such an accurate figure on it?  It could've been decades, or a very short time because a volume of wood was rapidly rendered dysfunctional by a pruning event, limb loss, or root severance.

 

As the only way we can comfortably age a fungal bracket, outside of quite a wide range, is to know when it first fruited, there's much more uncertainty about how long the fungus has been at work.  Particularly, as it may have had a long nap during its life.

 

Also, if you take your eyes of the prize, you'll see the fungal bracket's on a log.?

[Khriss]

@Acer ventura and the follow on to this. Is who is gonna pay  ?  I haven't found a reliable, quick measure of decay that is reproduceable without huge cost. Plus customer will come out with " how long will it last "  and " when will it fail" and the cracker " how much will it cost"   hence my ' ten years plus'  which is probably a better idea than most general public estimates. K