black stains in wood

[brayhead]

Hi there,

I posted this in "firewood" section already to find out, if the wood can be used as firewood, but I am still curious, if anybody knows what kind of disease the beech was suffering from and whether or not it is "contagious" for the other logs in the pile.

Thanks for your replies!

[brayhead]

What about "exidia glandulosa"? Could it cause this staining inside the wood? I think I saw some black jelly at the very base of the tree.

[Steve Bullman]

Kretzschmaria duesta (Ustulina duesta) - David Humphries’s Fungi Directory - Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

[Steve Bullman]

Get some pictures of the base of the tree if you can

[brayhead]

Hi thanks for the idea. I will get pics of the base maybe tomorrow.

I had a look around and I have the impression that the black lines in Kretzschmaria are more distinct, like in this post: http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/fungi-pictures/14084-another-ustulina-k-deusta-syc.html#post252456

But maybe it depends on the tree or the stage of the infection?

It says that Kretzschmaria is "saprophytic". So this could mean that the wood will keep rotting while laying in the pile the whole year, right? And potentially it could spread out to the oak, which is laying just next to it??? Or will the rotting process stop when the wood dries out?

[MATTMOSS]

I really wouldn't worry about the wood rotting away.

The black staining could have been caused by any number of fungi that can affect beech.

Now the wood is cut up and under cover the required conditions for any further decay will diminish and any chance of spread to other wood is not possible because there are no fruiting bodies for sporulation and the oak will not present any better opportunity for the fungus anyway.

[brayhead]

Here are some pics of the trunk. Yes, it does indeed match with other pictures of kretzschmaria deusta I found in the internet. Thanks Steve Bullman!

 

And yes, right, without fruits and spores no spreading... Thanks MATTMOSS!

 

For saprotrophic organisms environments with less than 80% water are sub-ideal for reproduction (according to Wikipedia). My target is to get the water content of the wood under 20%, so by bye fungus