Mushy FB at base of Hornbeam

[Paul Barton]

Hi all,

 

Would anyone like to offer an opinion on what this fungus may be? It was at the base of a Hornbeam, which also hosts a Ganoderma applantatum. My first impression was a Meripilus but it has gills rather than pores and I have never seen it on Hornbeam before. Perhaps Pleurotus?

 

It was attached to the base between buttresses by a stalk, and I think has gills on the underside although it was so mushy it was hard to tell!

 

By the way, the photos show it turned upside down! I stupidly didn't get a picture of the top!

[sloth]

Looks merip-ish to me. Could the 'gills' be the fibers below the pore layer, which may have been rotted/eaten away? Maybe, David....

[David Humphries]

Meripilus giganteus does host on Hornbeam.

 

the right hand side gill like section in the last image could be gills, but could perhaps also be, as Kevin suggested, flesh fibres.

Merip is fairly stringy.

 

I see where you're coming from with Pleurotus though.

 

Here's some relatively desiccated images of Mg from various different trees.....

 

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[Paul Barton]

Meripilus giganteus does host on Hornbeam..

 

Thanks David - my mush looks pretty similar to some of your images.

 

Do you say Hornbeam is a host from your own experience, as it's not listed in any texts I have. If so, what has the significance been in your experience? I'd expect Hornbeam to have a better resistance to the decay than Beech.

 

In this case it's acting in tandem with Ganoderma, so the future doesn't look too bright for this one.

[David Humphries]

I've seen it both on Hornbeam stumps and live standing trees.

 

I not noted any examples of failed root plates.

 

 

I would say being diffuse porous that it would be similar to beech.

 

I've seen Ganoderma go through hornbeam like a dose of salts !

 

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[Paul Barton]

Thanks chief!