Phellinus robustus

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Cool my mate Richard will be pleased he spotted it:thumbup1:

 

ben, it is long overdue that your site was given SSSI status, you have a very very special site, worthy of as much inclusion to conservation as any of the so called "prime sites"

[Forest Imp]

Just a few things to add - Phellinus robustus is now called Fomitiporia robusta, it certainly is rare, and I cannot see how anybody could mistake it for a Ganoderma spp. as this has a white pore surface whilst F.robusta has a yellow pore surface, although it is possible old FB's could be mistaken.

 

I agree with Tony that the recent photo does look like F.robusta, but best not to jump the gun and wait for Kew to confirm.

 

Martyn Ainsworth has done a lot of work at Windsor which has turned out to be a stronghold for this species.

In Suffolk, Ted Green suspected he had found this on an ancient Oak in the East of the County, but this has failed to produce any fertile cells for the last 7 years of my checking and I fear will come to nothing.

The good news, I found a very young bracket on an ancient Oak last month 10 miles away and Martyn agrees this will almost certainly turn out to be F.robusta - I will be returning later this year to test another tiny sample, but F.robusta seems a tricky bracket to confirm under the microscope as the distinctive setae are rarely present and instead one has to search for 'ventricose cystidioles with elongated slender apices' (cells which look a little like tadpoles)

 

For the record, F.robusta has been found on Arbutus, Aesculus, Castanea, Citrus, Corylus, Cratageus, Eucalyptus, Fagus, Ficus, Fraxineus, Laurus, Ostrya, Pistacea, Platanus, Populus, Robinia, Salix, Syringa, Tamarix and Ulmus ... but prefers Quercus !

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Just a few things to add - Phellinus robustus is now called Fomitiporia robusta, it certainly is rare, and I cannot see how anybody could mistake it for a Ganoderma spp. as this has a white pore surface whilst F.robusta has a yellow pore surface, although it is possible old FB's could be mistaken.

 

I agree with Tony that the recent photo does look like F.robusta, but best not to jump the gun and wait for Kew to confirm.

 

Martyn Ainsworth has done a lot of work at Windsor which has turned out to be a stronghold for this species.

In Suffolk, Ted Green suspected he had found this on an ancient Oak in the East of the County, but this has failed to produce any fertile cells for the last 7 years of my checking and I fear will come to nothing.

The good news, I found a very young bracket on an ancient Oak last month 10 miles away and Martyn agrees this will almost certainly turn out to be F.robusta - I will be returning later this year to test another tiny sample, but F.robusta seems a tricky bracket to confirm under the microscope as the distinctive setae are rarely present and instead one has to search for 'ventricose cystidioles with elongated slender apices' (cells which look a little like tadpoles)

 

For the record, F.robusta has been found on Arbutus, Aesculus, Castanea, Citrus, Corylus, Cratageus, Eucalyptus, Fagus, Ficus, Fraxineus, Laurus, Ostrya, Pistacea, Platanus, Populus, Robinia, Salix, Syringa, Tamarix and Ulmus ... but prefers Quercus !

 

could to see you back forest, great post too:thumbup1:

[flying_sensei]

Hi guys!

 

I might be way off, but could these be Phellenius robustus?

 

I'm an aspiring arb from Sweden and found these today on an oak.

 

Hopefully i'll manage to upload the pictures

Edited January 8, 2014 by flying_sensei

[flying_sensei]

As i thought... I had 2 pictures...

 

I'll try uploading the second one now... Fingers crossed..

[David Humphries]

Hello,

 

I would imagine that they are P. robustus/Fomitiporia robusta

 

 

 

.

[flying_sensei]

Hello,

 

I would imagine that they are P. robustus/Fomitiporia robusta

 

 

 

 

.

 

David, in what way, if any, do they affect the tree?

 

Sorry for the stupid question..

Can't seem to find any good and useful info in swedish

[David Humphries]

Not sure about Sweden, but here in the UK it is a fairly rare species on our Oaks.

 

I have no direct experience of it with regards to decay failure.

 

Ryvarden and Gilbertson state in part 2 of their volume on European polypores that it developes a white rot of the heart wood in mature oaks.

 

Heinz Butin briefly describes in his tree diseases & disorders book that it is a slow growing parasite more commonly associated with older oaks. Also stating that it can develop a white rot of the upper trunk.

 

Karlheinze Webber and Claus Mattheck say in 'Manual of Wood Decays' that the White rot can lead to brittle fracture of the stem.

 

 

That's about the all the reference to P. robustus/Fomitiporia robusta I have at hand.

 

Hope you find it of use.

 

 

 

.

[David Humphries]

For reference, I've just added a Phellinus robustus (Fomitiporia robusta) gallery to the Fungi Directory which can be found on the yellow tabs on the main Website.

 

Having looked for the species in the UK for a number of years, I finally came across a good number in the Bialowieza National Park Forest on the Poland/Belarus border.

 

Phellinus robustus - Fomitiporia robusta (Robust bracket) - David Humphries’s Fungi Directory - Arbtalk.co.uk | Discussion Forum for Arborists

 

 

 

.

[Darrin Turnbull]

Felled a black locust today with this on it .