Tony Croft aka hamadryad

Yep crime is the right word for what was done to this tree, no shape nor form about it at all, this is the kind of work that gets us all a bad name.

Then given that, it being dense and spongey we can rule out the myxomycetes potential, im going to stick to my feeling on this, and if it wasnt mid winter I would drive up just to have a closer look. Cumbria is a bit too far to pop round even for me! Would you consider sending a sample off? I would be fascinated to find out what a professional mycologist would make of it. Its so unusual and being on yew more so. my gut tells me if this is one of the higher fungi a true basidiomycetes that this is anamorphic in form. after all there is no defined pore structure, hasnt any specific profile that could be described as anything bot "nodulose" or crustose. Its just this kind of oddball fungal random post that keeps me hooked on these pages, you just never know whats going to pop up. For me this is a cool fungus, mostly because its on Yew, and because \i have no friggin clues as to its potential identity, guessing is all I can do:blushing:

I dont think thats a particularly weak union, the tree is also vigorous, see bark cracks indicating recent substantial secondary thickening (albeit on a compression side) The cavity has significant woundwood and (subject to a proper evaluation) is most likely stronger than the rest of the tree! I would like to see more foliage/branches at the points of concern, its been over lifted and this doesnt help trees, direct placement of carbs really does help secondary thicken areas.

Thats some of Shanes gear isnt it, how is the old dog!

I think its a sows ear and would be hard to make a silk purse out of it, a re structure would allow a new crown to form with a good balance. totaly understand your thinking, just wouldnt be my first choice in this case, the tree was ruined first time round.

this is turning into an awesome thread pat! Ive actualy considered living in a yurt, woodland is cheap in Europe could rent the house and go off to mke charcoal baskets and other stuff and come back for a bit of hibernation in the winter!

John said you caught him out on the name change of fungi! G. adspersum. Were due our assesment re do in June, were getting all the stress already!

thats my take, leaving epicormics and any sap risers that are within the line of the rounding over of the canopy.

Or is it one of them bee thingies?

I am not attacking you Jonny, i wouldnt feed a fire that is burning my soul, like im a Hethen wicka heritic. as for big brother, I can handle your heat on my own, and of this you can be certain, big bro on this site wouldn't hear a word from me about it, so trust me, im on my own.

good shout, one of these myxo groups seems most likely in those close ups, seemed much blacker and crusty in the first images:thumbup1:

Yes, and I have duly acknowledged this error, apologized to the mods for past crimes, and will now take the opportunity to apologize to anyone, especially treeseer who has felt my overbearing presence in the past. I am now, ( people can change and learn from their mistakes) doing my VERY utmost to ensure there is no hint of such intent in my postings, and I thank you Jonny, for if you hadnt been quite so... lets say floral in your personal views of me I may not have realized what it must be like to read what I say without seeing my face or being able to read the body languages. I was mortified when you told me what you thought of me and described the utter cesspit of my years of discussions here. I cant do anything about that now, but I can make sure that the future is filled with a much improved Hamadryad. with regard to my "fungal demi god status" I have always found this rather amusing, I am just a very passionate and enthusiastic amateur, with a very well respected ability and instinct for fungi. I merely try to use that to promote fungal interest and education, inspire others to tap into this largely overlooked and fascinating subject. Many people on this forum and outside of the forum have enjoyed many days of adventure learning and discovery, and THAT is all I am here for. I am sincerely sorry that you feel sickened and especially that you fel I have bullied or mis informed others this I take VERY seriously and feel a shame the likes I havent felt for a long time, it will be rectified and then some I can assure you. if you took the time to get to know me, rather than judge the cyber presence i would like to think you would find me a very different animal, who would give you his last sandwich, or break his back trying to help others with a problem. Every situation and event in life has its reasons, even the bad things, i think you was my wake up call, and I needed it, so alls good.

Good close ups, even if Phaeolus did have an anamorph it I suspect might be more tightly grouped than this. It looks in the close up to be very similar to what Felugio septica or F candida goes to after maturation, was it puffy and fragile? Ive never seen it on Yew before and it normaly likes well rotted soft substrates and the wood here looks hard and dessicated with missing bark?

Jonny, I'm just trying to add my opinion/interest/thoughts/possibilities/potential avenues of exploration into the mix, and the answer is not three letters, it could be a two letter answer but mine is possible, but not known as far as i can tell. Before you start baiting, why dont you have a stab, a wild guess, its o.k, nobody will think your a moron or anything, we just have fun talking about these things. I would be more interested in YOUR opinions on the fungi than on your interest in my views.

was a very wet year, everything grew like billy o to be fair, drought would have halved it probably:thumbup1:

having a look there would be nowhere to put pegs and ropes into ground, shame but still a workable scenario.

Its got the form for it, this could work really well, any scope for tying down a few limbs to get some downward bends established?

So, our advice would be to send a sample in to FR would it not?

"Doesnt look like" and "most likely" wont do for a potentially notifiable disease, or am I missing something? Surely it is worth having a "professional" get a sample and have a proper look? isnt THAT the current approach? and isnt a perennial nectria or Ash canker defined as perennial and re infecting the edges of the tissues like target cankers,as opposed to Chalara and psuedomonas (Chestnuts) being the strip canker type? I.e a new column infected as apposed to the occluding tissues like in this example having strong occlusion

no i disagree, your paid hours, those hours your not paid is no ones but your own business. dictate my working life but mind your own business outside of it, its a job not a slave role, my life is mine

interesting project, possible for sure but not the ideal species, but you have to work with what your given! how big/old is the tree?

very few of the recreational drugs are actually an addiction issue, Nicotine and alcohol are scientifically proven to be more addictive than many narcotics/or natural substances. Though some of these newer chemical highs are especially this mcat or methadrone and ketamine seem to be causing much bigger problems than the LSD MDMA and speed of my days, even the Hospital staff are saying so.

I am actualy starting to wonder now whether some of these cases may well be Phytopthora with armillaria as only a secondary agent due to the stress which is really where honey fungi come into their own. Im sure there is a distinct chance im going to get a kicking on this one now, bad ju ju. I so wish i had scopes to really get into these things, I assume far too much and open myself up to errors, and with wolves waiting to feast on my carcass im going to have to up my game!

Drug use has always been an issue in this line of work, arbs work hard and a lot play hard too. in my opinion (not worth much i know) what goes on at work is the bosses business, what goes on out of work is not, performance at work is the bosses business too. if one allows ones performance to effect business and more importantly the teams safety then your asking for whats going on out of hours to come into bosses territory. Ive done my fair share, young and reckless, its a phase some of us go through, and many reasons why some of us turn to it so dont be too judgmental till you have given fair chance.

tidy mate:thumbup1: