The Meripilus thread!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I've come across Meripilus just once on London plane.

Wasn't one of our trees, and I believe it's still there unreduced maybe three/four years later, on a busy north London road.

 

Is there the possibility to airspade the associated roots to assess the level of decay in your tree ?

 

 

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(Copied here too as highly relevant)

 

A dificult fungi to asses with any level of certainty, the airspade is about the only way of getting a true handle on progress. Matthecks cone method should help giving ideas as to where roots NEED to be. Though root morphology is not as cut and dry as this, most trees once mature will have a cone of decay in the basal region and associated levels of decay in the attached old woody roots. meripilus is one of those that can feed from these older tissues for many decades before progressing to the more dangerous mode of degrading the shear killing fine root system.

 

It is really this action of dissolving shear killing roots that is the danger with Meripilus colonisation. if we have shear kill roots we have no problem, if we dont, we have a big problem. So IMO it is these shear killing roots we should attempt to locate, and most basal investigations I've seen done have been at the very stem base, where very little worthwhile knowledge on the mechanics can be gained as to the true extent of this particular interaction.

 

The other flip side of the coin is the potential for loosening of the shear root ball during such investigations, retaining trees with Meripilus is what I would regard as the most tricky of all the fungi interactions, a very challenging area. One needs a VERY solid understanding of mechanics, decay modes and aging tree morphology to fully understand and give a worthy prognosis to each case.

 

All the evaluation tools picus, resist-o-graph, root radar have little to offer in these investigations, and may as well be left in their box!

 

root radar will pick up the sound upper half of the horseshoe form of the roots but not the shear killers, resist-o-graph will go through the upper wall of the root and then feel no resistance as it is the underside that is gone, this isnt the problem, and it doesn't tell you anything about the re iterative roots coming off as shear kills from the occluding tissues associated with the decaying undersides. and Picus, well that is a butt evaluation tool and we all know butt rot is too low to be read with Picus in Meripilus cases dont we.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Force cone method (Mattheck) You will find much of interest and of use here

 

 

Baumdiagnoseseminare mit Prof. Dr. Claus Mattheck

 

http://bibliothek.fzk.de/zb/berichte/Mattheck-Poster-100907.pdf

 

http://bibliothek.fzk.de/zb/berichte/Mattheck-Poster-110503.pdf

 

http://bibliothek.fzk.de/zb/berichte/Mattheck-Poster-110610.pdf

[RobArb]

Merip on Ulmus...

 

Other team where taking it down on order from TO as we were passing by, so grabbed a few piccies

 

 

 

Sent from my Galaxy S2

[David Humphries]

Merip on Ulmus...

 

Other team where taking it down on order from TO as we were passing by, so grabbed a few piccies

Sent from my Galaxy S2

 

Don't recall coming across Meripilus on Ulmus.

Such a growing and wide host association.

 

Thanks for the share Rob

 

 

 

 

Might do a sticky on Meripilus and its developing/growing host range.

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[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Don't recall coming across Meripilus on Ulmus.

Such a growing and wide host association.

 

Thanks for the share Rob

 

Might do a sticky on Meripilus and its developing/growing host range.

.

 

sounds like a good idea:001_cool:

[RobArb]

ditto:biggrin:

[woody paul]

MERIPILUS IS IT?? Got asked today about this Beech, show no sign of die back no major dead wood or root decay. Has had this fungus for the last 3 years, The tree is on the edge of drive near to a road, got asked is it safe. Customer wants to keep it at the moment but I can't see why as the have planning permission on the piece of land no TPO so my thinking is get rid. But it is a nice tree.

 

 

 

[JonnyVine]

If I were you I would be having a much closer look old boy

[woody paul]

If I were you I would be having a much closer look old boy

 

Closer look were:confused1:

[JonnyVine]

Closer look were:confused1:

 

At the stem base and root plate