Internal fungi on Beech? - your thoughts pls.

[Craig F-J]

I've just come across this whilst climbing a mature Beech to check for poor unions.

 

Very high value targets beneath (children) and in regular use too.

 

Pictures taken at 10 meters or so. The internal and external shots are within 1 meter of each other.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts please?

[Craig F-J]

1 more. This was taken prior to removing a mass of material that made up a nest.

[Fungus]

I've just come across this whilst climbing a mature Beech to check for poor unions. Very high value targets beneath (children) and in regular use too. Pictures taken at 10 meters or so. The internal and external shots are within 1 meter of each other.

 

Craig,

This is Bjerkandera adusta, an annual saprotrophic bracket fungus decomposing heart wood with polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

On beech, it is often followed by Trametes gibbosa (see photo), that first kills the mycelium of the Bjerkandera and then continues to decay the wood with a mostly slow developing simultaneous white rot after some time making the tree trunk and (parts of) its crown unstable, which implicates, that the damage to the tree has to be assessed and monitored at a regular basis.

---

Edited November 7, 2011 by Fungus

[Craig F-J]

Craig,

This is Bjerkandera adusta, an annual saprotrophic bracket fungus decomposing heart wood with polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

On beech, it is often followed by Trametes gibbosa (see photo), that first kills the mycelium of the Bjerkandera and then continues to decay the wood with a mostly slow developing simultaneous white rot after some time making the tree trunk and (parts of) its crown unstable, which implicates, that the damage to the tree has to be assessed and monitored at a regular basis.

---

 

Thanks Fungus.

 

I had thought after checking D.I.H.T. (Strouts, Winter) that it could be this but really struggled to make a positive ID by inspection.

 

I'm also very interested to hear the info about Trametes, there appears to be no info in the text books I'm referencing to a Bjerkandera adusta/Trametes gibbosa link. Is this a connection you have made yourself over time? or do i need to update my ref. material??

[Fungus]

I'm also very interested to hear the info about Trametes, there appears to be no info in the text books I'm referencing to a Bjerkandera adusta/Trametes gibbosa link. Is this a connection you have made yourself over time? or do i need to update my ref. material??

 

Craig,

Yes, you have, as it was first published in 1996 in the Dutch edition of my Encyclopaedia of Fungi (Rebo, 1997). Also see all of my posts on succession of saprotrophic macrofungi.