Tony Croft aka hamadryad

do let me know how many said fungus- solution- fell!

Ive cut so many big Bjerkanderas and found the black line now that i get a bit blazay and presumptuous:001_smile: naughty assumptions, I should know far better by now!

mmmm, doing too many "mates rates" jobs will just make life seem pointless! I do it all the time and im 25 years in and supposedly wiser!

No it wouldnt be that unusual, the problem here is its being described as a "Biotroph" as opposed to Necrotroph. A complicated business narrowing down the life cycle or strategy of a fungi, the science would have to be solid. Biotrophs fully dependant on living tissues Necrotrophs kills tissues then consumes and can act saprotrophicaly Saprotrophs deadwood feeding only. and believe me there is a lot of grey areas in this side of mycology

It could also (it looks large) be Bjerkandera 'Fumosa

I shall look that reference up, be interesting if it is because ive not come across it being even remotely biotrophic:001_huh:

went to check on a very similar situation I have the other day, reduced a very big beech on a high bank near railway and road. she has Pholiota squarossus, and stood up to the recent winds:thumbup1: beech and ash common hosts and seem to cope fairly well, polars on the other hand are a bit of wobbly moment!

Efficiency is, in this game, the key:thumbup1: and it never ceases to amaze me how many folk can make a living when it takes them twice as long as another gang down the road!

one of my fave ornamental trees, I have always loved beeches. not something ive noted when pruning above graft line to be honest

I doubt it is biotrophic at all, and entirely saprobic and as Jules eludes to it prefers very damp and also dark places. In my experience it is also late on the scene of the successional cycle of decays. be unusual on a conifer too in my experience:thumbup1:

lol, I will wait for the revelation, as I certainly do not know the direct cause of these unusual swellings, got afew on my patch also on beech, many have Ganoderma one has Aurantiporus but not sure if theres any link:001_smile:

no more than 18" diameter, and very dead and ivy covered for what looked like some time, I.e decade at least, and the fungi very much happy and alive. Although the tree had blown over at the root, suggesting its a very capable saprotroph, the question now is how far up the necrotrophic scale is it? .

solid evidence and work proving the benefits and viability of this product will be hard to find, mostly because of the industry big cheeses behind the drive. Big business doesnt care about environment, it is all about how much money can be made, even if it means making spurious claims regarding a product derived from raping earths resources for yet another venture that we as a society do not and never will need. all they are trying to do is find a way of legitimising rainforest depletion in as many and varied ways as possible, as consumers develop a conscience and divert to more truly sustainable products they need to invent new ways to lure our buck. the only way to do what they really claim this does, in a truly sustainable way is to use brown rot fungi and stabalise the carbon units of lignin as soil amendments, at least this will not disrupt the biology of soils. It was brown rot fungi that are largley responsible for the black gold deposits today only after the evolution of white rot did this see a faster break down of woody plant materials and hence less organic (humus/lignin) build up. of course my opinion is not everyones, but we only have to trust our only non biassed non corruptible teacher, nature, she never lies, and has no vested interests in the outcome of debates:001_smile:

any chance of seeing the peer reviewed papers on the subject?

a few bits and bobs for last few days A nice little beechwood Piptoporus betulinus (Top fruit) and Deadaleopsis confrogosa at lower as above (Macrotyphula juncea) A wierd malformed G. australe:001_huh: Nice separation shear crack (right through) And my first documented Rigidiporus ulmarius on..... ELM!

Treatment for Armillaria atack, well lots of folk have tried! I dont fancy anyones chances unless its very early on. I would look first to any negative impacts on the tree, as it is these and not the Mellea thats the enemy, the fungi is just cleaning up, its one of natures bin men. So line of investigation to uncover the chain of events that lead to tree health declining, which in an urban setting are numerous and stacked one upon another, as we al know. I would ask the hydration potential first as this is in my opinion first port of call in stress, then compaction, nutrition (soil analysis) soil tested last as most expensive to work out and amend if compacted. I have stopped looking to the pathogen for answers, it is misleading and unproductive, disease is "Dis -Ease" cure the Dis Ease and the disease will sort itself out.

the first fungi is a tough one, very degraded, but possibly paxillus involutus, a generalist mycorrhizea on young trees and saprotroph in decline of older trees. the others are most cretainly P. squarosus

no, not Paxilus, which they consume on the continent even though its commn name is the "poison Pax":001_smile: looks like it might be a lactarius species as there apeas to be a little milk like droplet on one of the gills. most fungi are pretty harmless, very few will kill you, some just a dicky tum, however, given you know VERY little of the fifth kingdom i would steer well clear of consumption. stick to very easily identified fungi like Laetiporus, giant puffballs and white pored boletes, stay safe fungi freaks:thumbup1:

when government starts entering every aspect of life its time for revolution! but seriously, most arbs let alone public arent aware BS3998 exists, let alone updated recently, it isnt going to start a massacre, chill out. what else are the old Etonians to do if not to pass the odd benign law while they finish their scotch/afternoon nap.

yep thats definitely:001_smile: got that honey whiff about it!

THE BRACKETS ARE SMALL AND NOT NUMEROUS, THE REDUCTION WAS HEAVY, IT'LL BE FINE FOR MANY MOONS. (caps lock:blushing:) I would be more concerned by the lack, in fact almost inverted basal flare

Polyporus squamosus

Mellea is not a soft rot, although I understand the confusion, as its simaltaneous rot leaving soft fibres, soft rot is in fact the most hardened and brittle of all the rots, I know its confusing, a lot struGgle with that

x2 those comments:thumbup1:

looks like old mellea clump, but could also be Pholiota Aurivella/squarrosus but my money is on the former, especially with the bark plates loosening