Fungi on oak?

[Joe Loggs]

Hi guys I looked at a oak that had lost half it's crown and is declining rapidly I suspect that roots had be severed for landscaping work.could anyone identify this fungi for me please?

Also the tree is riddled with red bugs that look like shield beetles, any ideas what they are?

[andrew t]

long shot here might be oyster fungus i don't know the Latin and im sure someone will be along in a mo.

[sloth]

Hard to tell from the pic but does look like oyster, Pleurotus ostreatus. Not likely to cause decline on oak, something else maybe root loss as you suggest will have stressed (or killed part of) the tree. Any wider shots of the trees surroundings?

Edit: red bugs; no idea!

[Joe Loggs]

Hard to tell from the pic but does look like oyster, Pleurotus ostreatus. Not likely to cause decline on oak, something else maybe root loss as you suggest will have stressed (or killed part of) the tree. Any wider shots of the trees surroundings?

Edit: red bugs; no idea!

 

Thanks for your fast replys, im afraid I have no more pics but 2 others trees In the same area have immense die back so I'm pretty sure it's ground works have done the damage.so I take it oyster mushroom only lives on dead trees? I just find it strange with the oak that only have the crown has died and the other half has come into leaf heavily.

[andrew t]

Hard to tell from the pic but does look like oyster, Pleurotus ostreatus. Not likely to cause decline on oak, something else maybe root loss as you suggest will have stressed (or killed part of) the tree. Any wider shots of the trees surroundings?

Edit: red bugs; no idea!

 

Excellent i just ID it roughly against some pics as Pleurotus ostreatus i remember MR croft spotted it on the fungi event.Ps can't wait for this years one.

[sloth]

If it is oyster then it is only weakly parasitic (in winter when the trees defenses are down), and I think prefers dead wood. I don't often see it fruit this time of year and with just the one pic, don't take my word for it as a definitive ID.

Is it just the one tree with half a dead crown, is it actually dead or dying? Do the other trees have the same 'half crown' symptoms, on the same side of them? Is the root damage on the same side as the crown symptoms? Is the dead/dying crown scattered branches, or everything beyond a certain major scaffold branch?

What is the fate of said trees?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Pluerotus ostreatus- never seen it on Oak before so really interesting shots.

 

it wont do much harm to the tough old oak, it does indicate root issues as it fruits on the column of dead wood associated with the dysfunctional trunk section/vascular pathway once associated with the damaged root/s. it will be restricted I suspcet in this Oak.

 

I would want to have a little airspading done to uncover the extent of the damage/compromised root system.

 

and it can fruit any time of year fellas

[Joe Loggs]

I really appreciate your feed back guys what I will do next week is get more shots of the surroundings so we can see what's fully going on plus il get some pics of the red bugs drilling into the trunk.

[David Humphries]

Also the tree is riddled with red bugs that look like shield beetles, any ideas what they are?

 

 

When you say "riddled" what sort of density are we talking here.

 

My guess from the first association from your colour & species type description would be a black headed - cardinal (Pyrochroa coccinea)

 

Anything like this ?

 

.

[Joe Loggs]

Exactly like that.👍I stumbled across 3 at the base area. But the customer said she had seen a lot more in one time couldn't tell you a exact figure.