ScottF

I'm with D Mc here. Could there be a vertical fracture that's partly occluded below where these little blighters are fruiting? As for eating them, they've always looked a bit slimy to me...

Maybe Bulgaria canker (Bulgaria inquinans). Does it look as if a thick black tar is oozing between the "plates" in the bark? Sometimes Phytopthera exudate can also look like this. Bulgaria canker can be fatal but is more often disfiguring. Phytopthera, depending on species, location and extent, could be more serious.

cheers for the very useful link. That picture of the ergot fungus (I thought it looked familiar) would go some way to explaining the wholewheat and rye toast "incident" I had the other week. The less said the better...

Nope. I'd remember getting on the wrong side of a little girl holding an injured bird. chin chin!

standing triumphantly on top of a huge, smouldering pile of my defeated enemies?

strange-looking tow truck

A penguin walks into a bar and orders a drink. After a few minutes he asks the barman: "hey buddy, have you seen my brother?" The barman replies: "I don't know. What's he look like?"

Found a picture of Phellinus robustus. Looks pretty similar to me. I'm not familiar with either Phellinus. Anyone have much experience with them? What's the prognosis for the tree?

Maze gill- not heard that one- I like it.

Lashings of martinis and parkin, please!

I have a block and tackle bolted to the ceiling with a harness at one end so I can just fly around.

My office is rather untidy, but there's a "system" at work- I know where everything is.

Hannah- your 2nd set of pics look like H. annuosum. Are they the same sample? If they're in a conifer woodland (as it looks like they are), then it's almost certainly H. Are all the trees as you look up looking pretty rough?

I had a look at the website but wasn't able to find the 360 cappuccino and smoothie maker attachment for my Bobcat.

Good spotting tip

Like Bob above suggested, could this not just be a scabby, old, dessicated Ganoderma sp.?

the top one looks more like Daedaleopsis confragosa to me the second one I'm pretty certain is Lycoperdon pyriforme which is edible. But I've never eaten one I hasten to add. The reason they looked like puffballs is because they grow deep in rotten smee so you can't see their "stems" are hidden Superb pics. Did you use a flash?

What about one of these?

Was this a pink-flowered HC (A. x carnea)? If so, this kind of aberrant bud proliferation (endemic on them for some reason) which causes these growths isn't generally thought to affect the strength of the wood. That said, I can't see how such wildly irregular growth couldn't have some effect in the worst (sproutiest) cases. And HC timber is fracture-prone and weak at the best of times. Looking at the picture, the fact that there are a number of branches splitting from this area suggests this is probably an old pollard point that's compartmentalised poorly and decay has set in. I'm not familiar with the term 'girdling' in this context. Maybe Matt can fill us in on it. The only girdling I can think of is root girdling where near-surface roots return toward the tree in cases of compacted soil, or where rooting is otherwise impeded. You see it lots on Norway maples. Best of luck with the HC with bleeding canker- you never know..

Hi Tim. Yep, classic bleeding canker signs. It's worth bearing in mind that research and anecdotal evidence shows that it's only fatal in 50% or so of cases, but can be very disfiguring. One of the lead researchers at the FC made the comparison with this disease and the "flu" for HCs. It could re-foliate, but the branch you've pictured looks pretty abruptly stripped. Would pruning out this branch affect the overall form and balance of the tree? I'd really recommend against over-reacting when we see this in HC. It's not going to be the primary cause of a tree "falling over" and where possible we should give the tree a chance to recover. If we start felling every HC we see with these symptoms, it's going to mean the loss of a great number of trees which might have recovered and/or provided bleeding canker-resistant seed (as the surviving tree would have had characteristics which provide a natural robustness against the disease). If you can, ie the current dead wood can be excised and there's not a persistent target underneath, give it chance.

Thanks for this info Perci. Really nteresting stuff. I've been trying to find out about working in France for some time, but web searches etc haven't picked much up. Do you work out there? Any advice for finding work in France? Do they have such tings as arb consultants/tree inspectors out there? Cheers

Looks great, Ed. Would one of these go on an excavator? What size would be the minimum?

If you've some time on your hands, try this http://www.vectorpark.com and suddenly all your free time will disappear... The snowman and the strange tower thing can keep you busy for a while

How about a polytunnel outside with a fan pushing the air in one end and out the other?

A woman walks into a bar and orders a Double Entendre, so the barman gives her one.