Rebecca Harrison

Not sure but if this quote is referring to the thread which i contributed to with records of a Beech with Meripilus going back 10 years or so, then the assumption that the tree had been 'dug up more times than you can count' is wrong ...it had only had one section of the root plate air spaded once only .... just to put the record straight.

Nice idea Lee, However its a weekend i'm working so this year won't be able to make it.... have fun guys n girls....I love Kew .. oh well

Donation done, wishing Chris a speedy recovery and strength to his nearest and dearest.

It would be grim its the woods that keep us sane

mmm I'd rather team up and try and divi up the budget between us ...you never know the best girl may win all!! Ha Ha

Count me in ........ Once again another reminder that you never know whats round the corner -live each day to the fullest!

More info on the Beech I mentioned earlier and Monkeyd kindly posted photos of the beech in question; We are lucky enough to have a local fungi enthusiast who has been surveying our wood since 1996. The following dates are from her records. Meripilus was seen on the Beech: 1996 - 10 Jan / 11 Dec 1997 - 3 Oct / 19/ Dec 1998 - 25 Jul / 4 Oct / 17 Oct 1999 - 6 Aug / 3 Sept / 19 Sept / 30 Sept 2000 - 18 Aug / 11 Oct 2002 - 29 Sep 2003 - 9 Oct 2004 - 10 Sept 2005 - 20 Aug 2006 - 29 Aug 2007 - 2 Oct It seems 2001 records have been misplaced. This year the Meripilus has failed to fruit, canopy on the tree looks fine with very little dead wood visible.

Cheers I was going to call you and ask how you get pictures on here ???? Oh so much to learn Question : Do you think the airspade had anything to do with the absence of meripilus this year? I know it's 3 years since the airspade and I know the meripilus was there last year for sure. Thanks again Andew

thanks Andew for your input ... I will asking my Manager but suspect it will be in the new financial year!!!!

Yet another fascinating thread! We have had a very large mature beech which has had meripilus recorded on it every year since at least 1996 .... in December 2005 we airspaded the roots as part of a demonstration of the equipment and I never actually found out what was found ..... Any way as a point of interest this year there has been no meripilus ...none what so ever ...canopy of tree seems pretty ok too. Really curious to know whats going on here. the other question I have is there appears to be 2 versions of meripilus..... the chunky eggy bread kind which was on the beech mentioned above and the more finer delicate type which was once described to me as 'poppadom like'. Any thoughts out there? If you would like the information I have on the Beech mentioned above, let me know ..

This has been completely fascinating, thank you all. Over the last few years we have lost a few oaks where they have literally just fallen over, a few in high winds and rather worringly a few on clear beautiful windless days. Canopies were looking stressed and most have had Collybia fusipes for a few years at least. Collybia fusipes is very common in our wood ..... Anyway each time I've looked for more information because I began to suspect Collybia as being a factor, I drew a blank ...until now. If I have understood this right, you are not suggesting that Collybia is to 'blame' but more that it is taking advantage of already dead roots as part of the process of the roots 'life cycle'. However if I have a tree that is surrounded by Collybia fusipes then maybe I should be worried? Once again thank you all for providing really useful information and discussion.