Identity of this bracket

Herwith pic of beech stem..think its a fomes but want some thoughts...there are a number of old brackets that look more like Daldinia...?

This shows older fruiting bodies.

possibly Fomes fomentarius at a wild guess or Ganoderma which is common on beech

cool...this one tho appears some 13' up the stem. At least 10 mnths old, it was a white/cream colour at one time

Phellinus robustus?? - does that funky cracking thing...

Phellinus robustus?? - does that funky cracking thing...

I see where you goin' with tha'....Phellinus igniarius ( false tinder polypore ) can be compared to fomes fomentarius....I'm sold on robustus, cheers!

Maybe not..do you know how rare this fungus is...maybe 10 sightings in UK ? Anyway, defo red list number...mmmmmm...!!

Ha! Unlikely indeed... and after a bit of proper research all but two of the British Mycological Society sightings have been on Oak!!!

I still think that cracking is indicative of Phellinus though...

Hows about Phellinus ignarius???

I have some interesting pics of the extent of the damage this fungus caused. It is the same bracket as the one in Bundle 2's pics. We decided to fell the tree.

We found signs of the Phellinus igniarius a good 9 meters up the beech stem.

I'd say the picus helped when deciding where to place the hinge for the fell.

It is a most suitably named fungus going by the common names of White trunk rot or sometimes Hardwood trunk rot....a timely fell by all accounts!