Fungi help please.

[Wolfie]

Help please - i'm confused.

 

At a regular clients today doing annual tidy up.

 

He has a mature Sycamore which has been showing gradual decline of the crown over the last couple of years.

There was major landscaping of the garden sereral years ago which must have kicked the tree in the nads (if it had any).

Hopefully i've attached pictures of the fungi which has popped up at numerous places around the rootzone.

My first thought was Honeyfungus. but no partial veil and a yellowy flesh of the stem makes me doubt it. second thought was sulpher tuft but I thought that was purly saprophytic.

Any help much appreciated.

[Matthew Arnold]

Sulphur Tuft, Coprinus sp and not sure on last one. All saprobes feeding off the dysfunctional roots. Judging by the hard landscaping ( 3ft retaining wall) the roots have been hacked out (hence die back in crown). Sadly it may be curtains for that sycamore but it could be left as a monlith.

[Treecreeper1961]

There seems to be a lot of mulch on the ground. Could they be feeding on the woodchip?

[Wolfie]

Possibly, but they are growing through the oak sleepers, way below the mulch bed level.

Not visible on the picture as the client hacked them of when they appears so that his kids didn't play with them.

[RobArb]

Sulphur Tuft, Coprinus sp and not sure on last one. All saprobes feeding off the dysfunctional roots. Judging by the hard landscaping ( 3ft retaining wall) the roots have been hacked out (hence die back in crown). Sadly it may be curtains for that sycamore but it could be left as a monlith.

 

I disagree, how do you know that 3ft retaining wall (which is no way 3ft:001_rolleyes:) had not ben placed there and back filled? Therefore covering the roots and the lower stem (i don't see a taper on the stem)!

 

Just shows we can't diagnose and advise from photos alone:biggrin:

 

Sent from Rob's GalaxySII

[Wolfie]

I'd say that the walls is around 2+1/2 ft.

There is some root flare but not as much as I would expect so I think possibly a bit of both.

[Treecreeper1961]

It seems to me, estimating, damage to and loss of roots from excavation would be more than enough to cause decline in the crown alone, due to loss of water and mineral uptake.

The first two fungi present are not parasitic and would not be contributing.

The third, to be identified!

Definitely needs monitoring and further investigation.

[RobArb]

We can't say for definate that it has been excavated...

 

We can make an educated guess but we wouldn't neccessarily be correct, and that is my point. Diagnosing problems/dysfunction and trying to prognose from photographs is not the best thing to do although we can offer opinion:biggrin:

[Wolfie]

All of your opinions are much appreciated.

 

There definitely was already a bank there as the fence in the background is at the road level. So i'm guessing partial excavation plus some leveling of the soil on this side of the tree once the wall was in place.

The fungi seem to be only around the wall so the theory of feeding on dysfunctional root sounds a good one.

Think I will recomend monitoring for now.

[Treecreeper1961]

We can't say for definate that it has been excavated...

 

We can make an educated guess but we wouldn't neccessarily be correct, and that is my point. Diagnosing problems/dysfunction and trying to prognose from photographs is not the best thing to do although we can offer opinion:biggrin:

 

Your right Rob, it's not good to jump to conclusions from photos. The major landscaping mentioned together with the photo suggests excavation.

In my experience root severance during ground work can lead to die back in the crown. Presence of saprotrophic fungi does not necessarily indicate physiological dysfunction. Symptom to cause. It's like being a detective. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I am right or you are wrong, but problem diagnosis is good fun:thumbup1:

We have to guess a bit on here or we would be staying mum.

I was looking at some oaks showing serious decline around a field edge the other day, about 10 or more, varying topography and positions and different boundaries. Across the road similar trees were fine. It's interesting trying to guess the possible causes and why the stark difference between trees close together.