Fungus

That's a bit negative don't you think Gerrit? At the least it could give an idea of at least 2 species it could be, enabling future research of both possibilities

John,

No, not a bit negative, realistic. The suggestion for the two possible species came from me and future comparing of last year's annual fungi to pictures in any book or other medium will have no result at all, because you'll never find photo's of old and desicated fruitbodies in any of them.

I saw this birch in a lush lawn the other day. There were lots of mushrooms growing around it. Any idea what they are? I'm trying to figure out if they are thriving off the tree.

Nick,

This is a saprotrophic Psathyrella species, probably P. candolleana, that lives on dead plant and tree debris and does no harm to the tree at all.

1. N. coccinea and N. ditissima are rare here. "Neonectria galligena var. faginata" does seem worse, forming target cankers.

2. N. cinnabarina does move from dead branches to living stems.

1. N. galligena can only be distinguished from N. ditissima (see my avatar for a photo of a 56 years old "exploded" target canker on beech) by identifying the species from the extremely rare teleomorphs and because of that, N. galligena is often mistaken for N. ditissima. Besides, N. galligena only is partically agressive on Malus and is considered to be a secondary parasite ocurring after frost damage to the trunk.

2. N. cinnabarina is restricted to dead or living twigs and branches and does not invade living tissues of stems.

Most modern evolutionary theory doesn't exclude what is often called mutalism (or even altruism for that matter - being nice to others). Cooperation and symbiosis can evolve as a successful strategy within the conventional Dawinian (or neo-Darwinian) framework. Its just a way of living and moving some genes onwards, any sense of a particular strategy being a 'better' way of doing things is just a reflection of our own morality/ethics.

Tony & Tony,

In modern biological or ecological and psychological, ethological or social behavioural theory, symbiosis, cooperation, mutalism and altruism are all considered to be forms of balanced parasitism or egocentrism. The only type of relationship between two or more organisms free of this is considered to be synergy.

According to these theories, human and non-human ecosystems go from equilibrium to equilibrium while tuning and calibrating the phases the family or ecosystem goes through to the positions of the participants in the "dance" of the total system. Also see my post on system theory.

Recent studies by Dutch ecologists show that evolutionary processes can either be slow or rapid and "bumpy" by skipping steps or taking more than one step at the time (progression) as a "reaction" to sudden dramatic changes and sometimes the process of evolution even goes backwards (regression).

Some of us have a life .

David,

So you suggest I don't ?

have you looked through the forums fungi guide? And if you are interested in fungi, we have an app that is compatible for iPhones, iPads and android based phones available for £2.99. Very user friendly app.

Andy,

I doubt that it is possible to identify these desicated last year's fb's with either of your suggested options .

the green elf cup running right through the wood and into those brackets, its the perfect tone

:thumbup:

Hi all, I have been an onlooker for some years and finally decided to post something today! An old bracket on a horse chestnut, there were several from the base up to about 4 metres, the picture shows the biggest, the others have fallen off.

Hard to say from the pictures. It certainly is no Ganoderma nor Inonotus, but with pores and tubes an old Polyporus species or with gills Pleurotus ostreatus.

whats with the blue stuff??..

Algae or cyanobacteria.

More pics of the ends, with 10 years of bird and fungus activity. Nectria cinnabarina i think are the red dots, but they are smoother here than on oak. K.d. following, don't recognize anything else.

Guy,

The Nectria should be identified microscopically. N. cinnabarina is not very harmful, because it is not associated with necrotic bark or killing of living tissues and often occurs after sun scald. N. ditissima and N. coccinea however, are far more detrimental to beech because they cause necrotic living tissues, bark deformation and cankers.

Some shots from my yesterday's visit to a woodland I monitor.

1. Fomes fomentarius on beech with woodpecker activity.

2. Fomes fomentarius on birch with 17 perennial brackets and last year's fruiting of Trametes hirsuta.

3. Fomes fomentarius on Populus alba.

4. Fomes fomentarius and Fomitopsis pinicola on birch.

---

hence the overly white pore layer too, which is more normal and yellowish in the further brackets.

Correct, overly white because it was overexposed by the flash light.

the darkest meripilus ive ever come across!

The lower brackets are so dark, because the photo was taken with flash light, which creates a "dark tunnel effect" in the lower half of the scene because the light didn't reach the "bottom". The true colour would be more like that of the brackets on top.

"reliable recorders" : Possibly not, but it is data

Certainly not as Ryvarden & Gilbertson don't mention Quercus as a host in their list of 27 broadleaved tree species P. ignarius has been documented from. Remarks : "... the list of hosts should be interpreted with care. The Phellinus ignarius complex is probably the most difficult complex of the whole genus."

We're all having a beer and putting the playground competitions behind us.

Paul,

Although in my country alcohol is not allowed in the playground, I'm going to have a beer anyway, so

if its P. robustus ... if not its probably just a gano

Mark,

Easy to distinguish : Phellinus has white spores, Ganoderma has rusty brown spores.

1. Value and validity are added if the use of the terms is correct. Are you saying that they are not?

2. Please give me a list of the sources by which you intend to substantiate your second point. Please list the remaining identified phenomena that I have failed to explain.

3. Why do you assume that the anatomy of the eye is related to the way people ascribe motive and meaning to causation? Can blind people not do this?

1. No, as I said before : even the correct use of these terms does not add to nor strengthen the validity of your arguements used in attacking the views and experiences of others on the subject of supposed corruption of civil servants.

2. I would suggest you take some time off to visit the library of the psychology and psychophysiology department of an university.

3. Any blind arborists visiting this site or met lately ?

Would it be possible for Oak to host Phellinus ignarius ? If not, any suggestions for similar looking fungi?

Mark,

No, it probably is Phellinus robustus.

Ah the bullet numbers game. Sigh. This is going to get really boring but I'm not going anywhere

Indeed, this already is boring and you're not going anywhere. Ever heard of meta-communication ? And need a bit of feedback on your display of superiority by posing as an intellectual and on your arrogant and disqualifying style of communication ? Is this what one needs to become a site moderator on this tree forum or does one have to be a raffle sponsor too ?

Pic. 2 - a new ffb that has appeared in the last 12 months...???

Pic. 3 - Something new to me, I have no idea what this is. As you can see, it looks very similar to frog spawn.

Pic. 2 : Too old to identify, could be the last year's bracket of an Inonotus species.

Pic. 3 : Vomit from a heron or a polecat that has eaten a female frog.

1. the identified phenomena of confirmation bias, illusory correlation, cognitive dissonance and self-deception ... they are not psychologists themselves but do a sufficiently robust review of the literature in preparing arguements ... superficial comments to be made on a tree work discussion forum.

2. perhaps you could explain that sometimes people see patterns where there are none.

1. Using some terms from cognitive and social psychology and citing non-scientific sources doesn't add to the value or validity of your arguements in the discussion on this forum.

2. Because the physiology of their brain and the restrictions of human eye sight play tricks with them, one of the many identified phenomena your superficial sources don't take into account.

Bottom line - people see consipracy everywhere, it's human psychology to ascribe motive to a chain of events and to see patterns where there aren't any (or even to berate inanimate objects for their malevolance).

I read books.

Being a clinical psychologist, I have the following question : what books does this "bottom line" statement on human behaviour come from or is this your private theory on human psychology ?

1. Schizophyllum commune

2. the other, both on Sycamore in the log pile.

Bart,

1. .

2. young Xylaria longipes.

U.K. ... along with Heterobasidion ...

... a white rotter and along with the also brown rot causing Sparassis crispa ?

Having followed the instructions, which consist of a pre-innoculated mushroom compost (dung and straw?) being left a few days then covered with moist peat, I fail to have shrooms after a month. Which should be plenty long enough. Instead I have healthy harvest of what appear to be the fungal equivalent of fruit flies?! What could they be, and how might I get rid of them and get the shrooms I am after? I have wondered whether maybe woodlice or millipedes etc may predate on their larvae?

The "fruit" or more probably dung flies could either be hatching from the substrate (horse dung) or from the moist peat.

Because the normal procedure is to cover the inoculated compost with a layer of moistened flower pot soil, not with peat, I think the mushroom will not fruit at all.