Fungi id please

[Will Heal]

Hi I found this on a willow I was dead wooding for the council the tree has be surveyed but this was about 10 feet up and hidden by a dead branch and ivy. The tree is on the junction next to a busy road. I think it is daedaleopsis confragosa, but not sure sorry bout the pics but I wanted to leave it in place so I can show the tree officer next week.

I'm trying to improve my knowledge so if I can get a positive id then I can read up on it

Thanks will

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

daedaleopsis confrogosa

[Will Heal]

daedaleopsis confrogosa

 

 

Thanks tony

[Will Heal]

It causes white rot in the sapwood, but is it likely to cause the tree to fail?

[Paul Melarange]

It causes white rot in the sapwood, but is it likely to cause the tree to fail?

 

The simple answer to your question is no it won't cause the tree to fail.

 

Assuming it is Daedaleopsis confragosa, it is saprophytic I.e. it lives on dead material. It is likely to be associated with the dead branch that you have removed.

 

If in doubt over the structural integrity of a stem, it is always worth just giving it a tap with a mallet. If it doesn't sound like a drum, chances are its probably ok!

[Paul Melarange]

Just to elaborate a little on my previous post, the fruiting body looks as though it formed on the main stem just above the branch collar. This indicates that there might be a strip of dysfunctional tissue above and below the collar.

 

As I mentioned before D.confragosa is saprophytic, so it will be restricted to the dysfunction (which is probably quite localised). However, being willow (not the best at compartmentalising) it would be prudent to tap around the stem with a mallet to check that there is nothing more serious going on.

 

The vitality of the tree i.e the length of extension growth, density of the crown etc can help you get an idea of the trees ability to compartmentalise decay/dysfunction. If the tree demonstrates significantly reduced vitality such as die-back in the crown, you should certainly check for more extensive decay resulting from fungi other than D. Confragosa.

[Will Heal]

Just to elaborate a little on my previous post, the fruiting body looks as though it formed on the main stem just above the branch collar. This indicates that there might be a strip of dysfunctional tissue above and below the collar.

 

As I mentioned before D.confragosa is saprophytic, so it will be restricted to the dysfunction (which is probably quite localised). However, being willow (not the best at compartmentalising) it would be prudent to tap around the stem with a mallet to check that there is nothing more serious going on.

 

The vitality of the tree i.e the length of extension growth, density of the crown etc can help you get an idea of the trees ability to compartmentalise decay/dysfunction. If the tree demonstrates significantly reduced vitality such as die-back in the crown, you should certainly check for more extensive decay resulting from fungi other than D. Confragosa.

 

 

Hi Paul, thanks for all the detail. Yes it was growing on the main stem. Without peeling any bark back there was no visible dead on the stem. The tree seems quite vigorous but there was quite a lot of epicormic growth throughout the crown. I should be going back to it next week with the tree officer and it'll be his call of what to do with the tree. I let you know how I get on

Thanks will

[daltontrees]

Just to fine-tune Paul Melarange's good advice, yes D.c. will not kill living wood but it can and does cause deadwood to break off a tree rather than disintegrate while still attached to the tree. There would be times when its presence might justify pre-emptive removal of large pieces over high target areas.

[Will Heal]

Thanks dalton, we removed all the dead wood already