Fungus

Tony,

Can you upload an enlarged and detailled photo of the upside down specimen showing the gills, so I can at least determine whether the fungus has split gills like Schizophyllum commune has, because S. commune - on beech wood - can depending on the stage of decomposition of the substrate form this large fruitbodies.

Gerrit

Acknowledged that your encyclopaedia is now aged, but it still stands up robustly against other newer tomes, in my opinion.

Any plans to update? Or is that what the cd rom is ?

David,

The publisher of my encyclopaedia does not invest in upgrading, because it would mean, that the upgrade starting with the original Dutch version had first to be retranslated in English and German and from English and/or German in the other five languages in which it has been published.

In 2010, the CD-ROM both in Dutch and English has been upgraded, but that does not mean that all the new substrates of fungi have been documented on the CD-ROM as well, as the changes of substrates and partner trees take place while we speak, as you now see in the British situation occuring too.

So any questions on the subject, I have joined the forum to answer them.

Gerrit

Gerrit, this was a lot bigger than all the photos im seeing on google for that species?

that group of fronds covers an area the size of a dinner plate at least? is that within the size range? i know sizes can vary a fair bit...

Tony,

The only other genus that comes to mind is Phyllotopsis, but without information on the colour of the spores (whitish, pink ?) and some other microscopical characteristics it is impossible to give a definite name to your fungus. Did you collect and preserve any material ?

Gerrit

heres another that is a mystery to me:001_huh:

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I think it's a type of regeneration with a new layer with pores of Inonotus cuticularis or I. nodulosus on top of old annual fruitbodies from last year, which have not (yet) lost contact with the mycelium. The only Polypore otherwise associated with old fruitbodies of Inonotus is Antrodiella hoehnelii.

Gerrit

Not 100% on the Id here as it's up pretty high on this Poplar & shots are in no way conclusive.

If it is then the host is a new one for me.

David,

Judged from the photo's, I would say this is Phellinus ignarius. In The Netherlands and Germany I have only seen Fomes fomentarius on poplars, which grow alongside rivers or on riverbanks in so-called "Auwälder". In The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany, Fomes fomentarius mainly grows on beech and birch, and sometimes on Quercus, Tilia, Aesculus, Alnus and Salix. In Poland you can find it on old Acer along roadsides.

Sometimes Fomes fomentarius is mixed up with Fomitopsis pinicola, which not only grows on Pinus and Picea, but also on Fagus, Betula, Quercus, Acer (Poland) and Prunus (Germany, Sweden).

By the way, my encyclopaedia was written in 1996 and has not been reviewed since.

Gerrit

Did you consider somewhat atypical specimen of Plicaturopsis crispa ?

Gerrit

Also see the photo of Ganoderma australe + Tilia in my album.

Mr Fungus, there is little info I know of (got Schwarze diagnosis an prognosis) regarding G. pfeifferi strategies/capacity, or G. lucidums

G. resinaceum appears in my codscience approach to be a nasty little rotter, as it also states in Schwarze its ranking 2nd under G. australe for potential. It certainly in my experience appears to have lethal consequences, to both tree and through its consequences, I took a heavily infected oak off a house a few months back!

So if G. australe is no1, with G. resinaceum not far behind where do the others come in these terms, they seem far less problematic in the ancient woods as far as I can see?

I couldn't agree more. Ganoderma resinaceum is an extremely dangerous white rotter (with selective delignification) when attacking Quercus rubra or Ulmus spp. And it also can be detrimental to young Quercus robur (but not so much to old and very big trunked Q. robur) as the photo shows. This young oak had fallen overnight without wind triggering it.

My experience with G. pfeifferi, which in my research regions only grows on old beeches (and one time on Tilia), is that it is a slow rotter, becoming old with the tree.

And as far as G. lucidum is concerned, depending on the wood quality of the tree, it can be rather harmless (Quercus, Fagus) to quite detrimental and dangerous (Populus, Salix, Ulmus).

Bare in mind, that the experiments of Francis Schwartze are performed under in vitro, i.e. laboratory conditions and not in vivo or in situ, i.e. in the field (lanes) or in forests under quite differing conditions.

Gerrit J. Keizer

is there anything different about the gills specifically or is it just genetics?

No, in this respect it's just genetics. Since genetic fingerprinting was introduced, the position of some species had to be drastically reviewed. They f.i. found out, that Coprinus comatus is not closely related to other Coprinus species and that even though all Paxillus species have gills, they are closely related to the Boletes. And what to think of the split gills of Schizophyllum commune, a species belonging to the Aphyllophorales ?

Gerrit J. Keizer

found my first fossil on the beech at lyme regis:thumbup1:

So did I, as far as big amonites are concerned.

Gerrit

indeed, but applanatum, the clue is in the name:thumbup1:

great to have you around fungus, and your right of course but we based on photos have to at least have a best guess, do we not:thumbup1:

With the extreme difference in speed of wood decay by both species, G. australe being the most detrimental one, in my opinion one can not allow oneself to make a mistake in determining which one of both species has been detected. Look what happened with the Anne Frank tree in Amsterdam, were a wrong diagnosis even after the tree had been scaffolded to the extreme lead to the fall of the horse chestnut during a mild storm.

Gerrit J. Keizer

hello Fungus, welcome to the site.

Which posts are you refering to specifically ?

Not sure if you noticed, but those last posts are from last year.

The posts by Big Joe.

Gerrit J. Keizer

So heres a question, why is lentinus tigrinus in the polypores?

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Because genetic fingerprinting has shown that the genus Lentinus is closely related to the Polyporaceae and not related to the Agaricales.

Gerrit J. Keizer

im convinced, it was on poplar!

I am not, because judged from the photo's, it looks more like Coriolopsis gallica, which has a darker brown surface than the (much) paler C. trogii and both species grow on poplar. So 100 % sure : microscope.

Gerrit J. Keizer

ever heard of this?

osCommerce, Open Source E-Commerce Solutions

Steve,

Yes, but more often offered as Ganoderma powder or Ganoderma tea. Ganoderma species like G. lucidum and G. sinense, in China called Reishi or Ling zhi, are famous for their medicinal qualities (tripertenes) and were together with ginseng ingredients of the elixers of the Taoist monks. See Terry Willard's book Reishi Mushroom (Sylvan Press, 1990) for a complete overview.

Gerrit J. Keizer

could be phellinus.....could be pfeifferi......sure those two know it alls will try and put me right though.

Sean,

No Phellinus (on beech), but Ganoderma pfeifferi seems correct. To be sure, do the burning match test. If you scratch the reddish to purplish surface with your nail, a yellow layer pops up, which lights up with fiery sparkles if a burning match as held close by, just like the damaged peel of an orange does.

Gerrit J. Keizer

I take it from your smiley Hama, that "Fungus" is a highly respected mycologist?

Andy,

I'll introduce myself. I'm Gerrit J. Keizer, a Dutch and German mycologist and tree or forest ecologist, author and photographer of the Encyclopaedia of Fungi (Rebo, Lisse/London, 1997/2008), of the CD-ROM The Interactive Guide to Mushrooms and other Fungi (ETI Biodiversity Center (UNESCO), Amsterdam/London, 2010) and of many articles on tree or forest specific mycology, including the soil food web and the role ectomycorrhizal, saprobic and parasitic macrofungi play in the dynamics of tree species specific ecosystems.

Since 1976 I've been working as a "mycology & tree" consultant and an international forest ecological researcher and recently I have taken up teaching again in the curriculum of the Dutch European Tree Worker and European Tree Technician program.

The last two pictures : Trametes gibbosa.

Hadn't picked up on that before, thanks for the link guys.

Thanks for the compliments,

The author,

Gerrit J. Keizer

mycologist/forest ecologist

SoortenBank.nl : Startpagina : Paddenstoelen

P.S. : today I also posted some comments on the Fungi Directory.

australe, no doubt about this one!

No doubt without using a microscope to check the size of the spores ? See : http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/fungi-pictures/13285-ganoderma-thread-4.html#post472202 .

Gerrit J. Keizer

G. applanatum is arguably wholly saprobic, whereas Ganoderma australe has considerable capacity to penetrate healthy sapwood and can even use the barrier zone as a food source! it would appear to have some difficulty in the phenols within oaks however, but in a horsechestnut its a savage which can consume it in a frightening space of time.

G. lipsiense (= G. applanatum) is not wholly saprobic, it is a slow parasite, which together with the tree under attack wants "to get old" to be able to yearly form new reproductive layers for as long as possible, i.e. it has no benefit from an early fall of the tree. This way, the diameter of fruitbodies can reach up to 60-80 centimetres. To prevent the fruitbody from becoming too heavy, old specimen "consume" and reuse the inside sterile tissue for building of new fertile structures so that they become partially hollow.

G. australe (= G. adspersum) is not only extremely detrimental to horse chestnut, but also to Acer, Tilia and Quercus rubra.

The perennial fruit bodies of G. applanatum have often been confused with those of G. adspersum, but the following characteristics can help to differentiate these species. If the lower surface of the fruit body bears the galls from larvea/emerging fly Agathomyia wankowici, the fungus can be identified as G. applanatum, as it is the only European species of Ganoderma affected (BREITENBACH and KRÄNZLIN, 1986). (though currently there is some discussion on this points validity) I will update! however these examples (below) are clearly g applanatum.

 

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In this image droplets can be seen oozing from ovipositing wounds by the fly, galls will then develope.

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Apart from the galls of Agathomyia wankowici on G. lipsiense (= G. applanatum), the only way to make sure you're either dealing with G. lipsiense or G. australe (= G. adspersum) is by looking at the size of the spores (microscope). And a warning : especially on Acer, Aesculus (Anne Frank tree, Amsterdam), Quercus rubra and Tilia, the white rot with selective delignification of G. australe is up to ten times as detrimental to the stability of (the trunk of) the tree as that of G. lipsiense is.

Gerrit J. Keizer

Are the spores white and is there a distinct annulus ? If so, Honey Fungus (Armillaria mellea s.l.).

Gerrit J. Keizer

For more indepth Tree/Fungi association then Gerrit J. Keizer's The complete encyclopedia of Mushrooms, is hard to beat.

David,

You may also be interested in the CD-ROM The Interactive Guide to Mushrooms and other Fungi (ETI BiodiversityCentre, Amsterdam/London, 2010) by the same author, which can be ordered at the website of ETI Biodiversity Center, University of Amsterdam.