Fungi identification and its impact on this tree.

[Tommy Hutchinson]

This beech tree is directly outside the reception area at college and the branch with the bracket on it if fails will fall directly on to the building/reception area. This is also a very busy area at college for people walking under the branch.

 

 

 

 

 

What species of bracket fungi is it?

 

Is this just a saprophyte living in a decay pocket?

 

Should the college be concerned of branch failure around this area?

[Alinicoll]

It looks like Polyporus squamosus - Dryads saddle - David Humphries’s Fungi Directory - Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

 

It is often just confined to dysfunctional tissue i.e. the area behind the wound. Probably given the targets I would want to get up there and have a poke about to see how extensive any decay is.

[Graham Brook]

Wouldn't Polyporus be on a stalk? Or is there one and I can't see it from here!

Edited June 28, 2013 by Graham Brook
Typing error

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Polyporus squamosus, at this stage unlikelyto be a major risk but one also wouldnt want to be doing a climbing inspection every six months to be sure.

 

From a VTA point of view the tree has lots of increment strips and that indicates rapid growth, and therefore plenty of capacity to limit and compensate for the loss of wood at the old pruning wound. be ten years IMO before I would be sweating over it.

[Tommy Hutchinson]

Very informative.

 

Thanks people

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Is that beech scale all over it?

[Tommy Hutchinson]

Yes it is and if i am correct this can lead to infection of the fungi Nectria ?

 

There is a line of Beeches (this one is in the line) of about eleven that make an old parish boundary.

 

Tony are you thinking that there is a lot more going on here ?

 

The next but one up from this had a large limb failure last year in the heavy winds we had, so we removed it. There are also rot pockets starting to form on several of the trees.

 

All of the trees have a decurent form/crown with a lot of multiple leaders.

[daltontrees]

Agree, it's probably P. squamosus which is pretty slow-moving and unlikely to cause failure in isolation.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Yes it is and if i am correct this can lead to infection of the fungi Nectria ?

 

There is a line of Beeches (this one is in the line) of about eleven that make an old parish boundary.

 

Tony are you thinking that there is a lot more going on here ?

 

The next but one up from this had a large limb failure last year in the heavy winds we had, so we removed it. There are also rot pockets starting to form on several of the trees.

 

All of the trees have a decurent form/crown with a lot of multiple leaders.

 

Thats a pretty heavy infestation, these trees will be rough barked in the future.

[David Humphries]

My advise would be to not underestimate the potential for failure where P. squamosus is involved, particularly where the target part has not been subjected to thorough inspection

 

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/tree-health-care/38134-polyporus-squamosus-extensive-white-rot.html

 

 

 

 

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