Honey fungus? What's the stain on Wellingtonia

[Al Cormack]

Looked at a couple of Wellingtonias today. One has been aerated at mulched, but had this fungus at the base - is it honey fungus?

 

 

These is also this staining which seems to be coming from pruning wounds, is it normal on Wellys?

 

 

Cheers

Al

[Marc]

I do not think there is any fungi associated with Wellies in the UK so would guess it's something in the mulch ground etc.

And yes the weeping from the wounds is fairly common.

[Al Cormack]

Thats great, thanks.

[Andrew Gale]

Diagnosis of Ill Health in Trees does attribute Armillaria mellea to Sequoiadendron and the staining does resemble that associated with A. mellea

 

I would normally expect to see staining lower down but it does look high up the stem?

 

Whether this is A. mellea it's difficult to tell without spore prints

[ScottF]

In my experience honey fungus is associated with very quick death in wellingtonia. Hard to see pics on my phone but does look like honey fungus.

 

That weep is pretty worrying too.

 

I'd be watching the tree for top dieback very closely. Have there been any fires or any other disturbances near the tree in the past few years as far as you know? You generally see wellies with honey fungus die standing in short order, so not a wind throw issue so much unless ignored.