Dying Birch?

[Mark Bolam]

This Birch has been dying from the top since the back end of last year.

 

Took it down last week.

 

Bracket was found on limb half way up. The tree seemed very dry, never found a drop of sap. No obvious causes. Any ideas?

[scotspine1]

Piptoporous betulinus

[David Humphries]

Brackets is just a forming razor stop Mark.

 

Betulinus piptoporus as Tim says.

 

 

Dysfunction may be honey fungus.

 

Be worth looking around base of trunk for rhizomorphs or under the bark for mycelium.

 

 

 

 

Though looking at the cross section there is no notable coming away of the bark.

If it is Armillaria it may be relatively early.

 

Where there any bleeding patches on the stem?

 

 

 

 

.

Edited May 20, 2010 by Monkey-D

[Mark Bolam]

Piptoporous betulinus

 

Tim, I'm a Geordie.

 

Can you run that by me more slowly please? My lips were moving as I was trying to mentally read that out!

[Mark Bolam]

Dave, the customer mentioned seeing 'mushrooms' on the lawn near it, but had removed them.

 

We ground the stump, and the roots were bone hard.

 

Hope it isn't HF.

 

There is a lovely weeping Ash in proximity.

[Mark Bolam]

No bleeding on stem.

 

We were going to leave it and see how it fared this season, but die-back seemed to be accelerating.

 

Dead wood falling on drive and potential to take out power line called for the earlier than planned fell.

[Lorry thompson]

Haha am not a Geordie but near enough was doing the same thing

[Mark Bolam]

I'm from Otterburn actually Lorry, but you get sick of explaining to folk where it is!

[18 stoner]

I'm from Otterburn actually Lorry, but you get sick of explaining to folk where it is!

 

Where is Otterburn exactly?