beech hedge fungus

[richyrich]

could do with some help on this fungus id. it's been causing the beech in a customers hedge to die over last year or two. firstly the leaves are stunted, then eventually plants rot at base.

photos are of old brackets- apparently colour was mousey brown when fresh.

i looked on here and nearest i found was fomes fomentarius, but colour they described does not match up to light to dark grey as described on arbtalk!!

 

also what could be done to stop it spreading- poss dig up adjacent plants and remove soil?

[David Humphries]

Not Fomes.

 

Are these hard or spongy ?

 

 

 

.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

look like G australes to me, died with the tree

[Fungus]

1. fungus ... it's been causing the beech in a customers hedge to die over last year or two. firstly the leaves are stunted, then eventually plants rot at base. photos are of old brackets- apparently colour was mousey brown when fresh.

2. Fomes fomentarius

3. also what could be done to stop it spreading - poss dig up adjacent plants and remove soil?

 

1. With rusty brown spores ? If so, it's a perennial Ganoderma species such as G. lipsiense, causing an intensive white rot with selective delignification of the central wood column and (slow) die back of the tree.

2. F. fomentarius has white spores.

3. Nothing useful.

[richyrich]

Not Fomes.

 

Are these hard or spongy ?

 

 

 

.

 

hard!

[richyrich]

the fungus started in a waterlogged area of the hedge, then spread in various plants along the hedge- but not in a continuous row. a few metres away there is a mature beech hedge, about 12 x 12 ft- would it be worth taking the smaller infected hedge out to try and stop spread, or is this waste of time?

 

thanks for th Ganoderma id:thumbup1:

[Fungus]

a few metres away there is a mature beech hedge, about 12 x 12 ft- would it be worth taking the smaller infected hedge out to try and stop spread ?

 

That could work provided the remaining beech hedge is not damaged at the trunk's base, but no positive results guaranteed.

[richyrich]

look like G australes to me, died with the tree

 

thanks- think you right. did some research and has chunkier brackets than G. lipsiense/applanatum and also commoner esp. on beeches.

id bit difficult as dead specimens:thumbup1:

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

thanks- think you right. did some research and has chunkier brackets than G. lipsiense/applanatum and also commoner esp. on beeches.

id bit difficult as dead specimens:thumbup1:

 

You made that easy, by describing the situation and effects, G applanatum=lipsiense would be unusual on such a young tree or rather of such a low stem diameter as there would be very little old ripewood to consume, being the necrotrophic parasite that lipsiense is.

 

G. australe on the other hand is an aggressive parasite with strong capacity to colonise living tissues and on a small tree like this would result in a quick death because of the low amount of heartwood/ripewood to consume. Taking what it needs at the cost of the host tree.

 

The other clue is in its death, as lipsiense would have been producing new growth at the pore surface because as the host died more dysfunctional material would be available to it to grow.

 

I would think rabbit damge was the principal entry point and vector here for the colonisation.

[richyrich]

You made that easy, by describing the situation and effects, G applanatum=lipsiense would be unusual on such a young tree or rather of such a low stem diameter as there would be very little old ripewood to consume, being the necrotrophic parasite that lipsiense is.

 

G. australe on the other hand is an aggressive parasite with strong capacity to colonise living tissues and on a small tree like this would result in a quick death because of the low amount of heartwood/ripewood to consume. Taking what it needs at the cost of the host tree.

 

The other clue is in its death, as lipsiense would have been producing new growth at the pore surface because as the host died more dysfunctional material would be available to it to grow.

 

I would think rabbit damge was the principal entry point and vector here for the colonisation.

 

thanks! customer was considering digging some soil out to remove fungus and replacing soil in effort to stop spread to mature section of hedge- would this be futile?