The Meripilus thread!

[Fungus]

Soft (brownish : sapwood) and white rotted (central wood column) beech at, above and below ground level by Meripilus giganteus.

--

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Soft (brownish : sapwood) and white rotted (central wood column) beech at, above and below ground level by Meripilus giganteus.

--

 

nice image Gerrit thanks for sharing, ive not seen so much basal decay in meripilus before

[David Humphries]

Do you know how far up the inner stem the decay from the Merip travelled Gerrit ?

 

 

.

[Fungus]

Do you know how far up the inner stem the decay from the Merip travelled ?

 

Yes, up to the top of the piece of remaining wood to the left side in both photos (see the following photo for the total height of the remaining wood), which was about 2 metres from ground level and it went on into the soil for 60 cm, so the total height of the central decay was about 2.5 metres.

This by the way is no exception, I've seen this kind of damage done to the central wood column of beeches by Meripilus several times without outside tree "body language" indications other then adventitious root development surrounding the trunk's base nurturing the foliage of the (central) crown and panic fruiting of the Meripilus between the buttresses after it had "dived under" for some years and that's why the risk of collaps of infected trees close to ground level is often overlooked or misinterpreted.

---

[Fungus]

The now vertical downside of the superficial root system of a beech with the inside of the mayor roots and the central wood of the trunk's base completely white rotted and hollowed by the mycelium of Meripilus giganteus causing the tree to fail.

---

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

http://modernarb.com/assets/media/Seeing%20Is%20Believing.pdf

 

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/meripilus_sumstinei.html

Edited November 26, 2011 by Tony Croft aka hamadryad

[Fungus]

Seeing Is Believing

 

Ted Green obviously has overlooked and failed to incorporate the documented evidence of M. giganteus - apart from being a white rotter of heart wood from the cellulose of which it fruits - being a parasitic soft rotter of living tissue (of the lower side of major roots) of beeches in his article and does not explain where the die back of the central crown of beeches with root systems colonized by the mycelium of M. giganteus comes from.

And how about the various very different strategies of attacking the root systems of the 17 different tree species - apart from beech and including one coniferous tree species - the on/in these species exclusively biotrophic parasitic M. giganteus is also documented from ? Are they all the outcome of co-evolution or adaptation of M. giganteus with or to all 17 different tree species or just "variations on a theme" ?

[Fungus]

Ted Green obviously has overlooked and failed to incorporate the documented evidence of M. giganteus - apart from being a white rotter of heart wood from the cellulose of which it fruits - being a parasitic soft rotter of living tissue (of the lower side of major roots) of beeches in his article and does not explain where the die back of the central crown of beeches with root systems colonized by the mycelium of M. giganteus comes from.

And how about the various very different strategies of attacking the root systems of the 17 different tree species - apart from beech and including one coniferous tree species - the on/in these species exclusively biotrophic parasitic M. giganteus is also documented from ? Are they all the outcome of co-evolution or adaptation of M. giganteus with or to all 17 different tree species or just "variations on a theme" ?

 

Besides, he repeats the question, I before raised in one of my posts on why M. giganteus is seldom found in natural beech woodlands without answering it, nor explaining why M. giganteus is so much and still increasing around in human dominated urban and rural environments.

[RobArb]

Tony where was it when we found that Merip on the oak, was it in whip woods or cassiobury park?

 

Sent from Rob's GalaxySII

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Besides, he repeats the question, I before raised in one of my posts on why M. giganteus is seldom found in natural beech woodlands without answering it, nor explaining why M. giganteus is so much and still increasing around in human dominated urban and rural environments.

 

very interesting as always Gerrit, it is very rare in burnham beeches, only once have \i recorded it there, a very very old beech pollard wood though:blushing: