Inonotus on Ash....

[MattyF]

I will disagree and say I think inonotus is some thing to be concerned about on ash, around my way it is the predominant tree and a large scale of critical failures can be pointed to inonotus, I agree some trees can compensate but all trees are different and the complete and rapid destruction of lignin that inonotus causes is surely some thing to be very concerned about? I'm not saying fell all inonotus infected ash trees but in a mile trip to my work shop I can think of about 5 critical failures down to inonotus , will try and get pics,

[sloth]

Don't mean to derail, but what of hispidus on London plane and Apple, also very common IME? I know its considered less serious on l plane (due to the rays within the wood) but it must become a concern at some point. Would fb's on a healthy looking plane indicate compartmentalised mycelium and panic fruiting for instance?

Apple- I've seen some serious hollowing of trunks in orchards, however, orchard style pruning leaves very little of lever arms, so no failures.

Others experience/knowledge would be good

[Jamis]

I have done some work on an apple tree in a customer's garden with hispidus decay, there had been some quite large limb failures (for apple trees), with the wood structure turned to a spongey mess inside a half inch "shell". The fungal brackets are on the main stem and I would have advised to fell in an instant if there was any target, but I made them aware of it as if they weren't already, and it is still standing proud four years later.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

If you all knew how many ash trees have been iving with hispidus those isolated cases you mention would seem as they do to me, very rare occurences.

 

Im not saying hispidus isnt a risk, but it certainly isnt a high risk, and in those case where it is becoming so, it really isnt a case of rocket science to see it.

 

small fruit bodies on the main stem below a substantial and un retrenching crown would require some investigation of course. I could however show you many thousands of trees that make a total joke of the theories of hazard value.

[MattyF]

Yep plenty of ash trees living with,plenty lying on the deck or limbs lost so it's not isolated and if not it is a matter of time before failure of a limb or stem occurs to compensate for some thing as you said it's a natural pollarder so surely needs managing reduction or removal when targets are concerned.... You can't ignore it and say its not serious..... I agree there are plenty of trees that make a mockery of the theories of hazard value and that goes for trees of many species not just ash but of all the fungi to do damage to the mechanical structure of wood of ash inonotus is bad IMO...

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Yep plenty of ash trees living with,plenty lying on the deck or limbs lost so it's not isolated and if not it is a matter of time before failure of a limb or stem occurs to compensate for some thing as you said it's a natural pollarder so surely needs managing reduction or removal when targets are concerned.... You can't ignore it and say its not serious..... I agree there are plenty of trees that make a mockery of the theories of hazard value and that goes for trees of many species not just ash but of all the fungi to do damage to the mechanical structure of wood of ash inonotus is bad IMO...

 

well thats fine, you keep knocking them down:thumbup:

[MattyF]

Well it is such good fire wood:sneaky2: will try and get some pics of my favourite ash , things was an absolute beast but reduced to a mere shell of it's former self when it split in two after inonotus got the better of it ,looking at it this evening walking the dog there is some dryads saddle colonising the remaining stem and is obviously severly decayed ,we reduced 40% of the remaining crown after it split about 8 years ago interested in your opinion if I can get loads of photos as I know it's condition is being revised at the moment.

[Fungus]

... what about Hispidus canker??

 

Sean,

As I don't know what you mean with Hispidus canker, I assume you mean this : Bark canker ash ?

[Fungus]

.. what of hispidus on London plane and Apple, also very common IME? I know its considered less serious on L. plane (due to the rays within the wood) but it must become a concern at some point. Would fb's on a healthy looking plane indicate compartmentalised mycelium and panic fruiting for instance? Apple- I've seen some serious hollowing of trunks in orchards, however, orchard style pruning leaves very little of lever arms, so no failures.

 

I agree with you, Matty and Jamis, that I. hispidus, which is a white and a soft rotter, can cause serious damage to the wood of the trunk and major branches of the trees it attacks, and this especially goes for Malus, Sorbus and/or Ulmus and less often for Fraxinus, Acer, Platanus and Juglans.

Once the annual fruiting on Platanus starts, you have to realize, that the mycelium has by then completely "drained" the starch rich radial rays it grows in and feeds on and both massive or poor fruiting (with guttation) can be a sign of panic reproduction. Also see : Bark sinks Platanus.

I. hispidus is not restricted to the tree species specific ecosystem of Fraxinus, the tree species it often "pollards" in a "natural" way, but is a generalist, which is highly adaptive to each different tree species it attacks. And note, that all tree species it colonizes have poorly developed defensive systems, because they all depend on generalistic endomycorrhizal microfungi, which also live in symbiosis with most of the green plants and grasses living underneath or in the vicinity of the tree and its roots.

For the strategies of I. hispidus compared with those of I. dryadeus, only living on/in (vinegar) acid rich Quercus and Castanea, tree species which both are associated with ectomycorrhizal macrofungi, see : Strategies of Inonotus species.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

High risk fungi would be those most signified by critical (stem failures) hispidus in ash is no different to chicken (laetiporus sulphureus) on oaks from a "tree species specific ecosystem" Here, shot specificaly for this thread today is an Ash, riddled with Hispidus.

 

I repeat, this isnt a HIGH risk fungi as a general rule, and retention is more than possible due to reduction of canopy being a simulation of a natural self pollarding "co evolutionary" proscess:001_smile:

 

This tree is a prime example of the ancient form and long term co habitation of space and time with a fungal coloniser.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 27, 2011 by Tony Croft aka hamadryad