What Fungus?

Please could a forum member identify this fungus found at the base of a newly dying tree in my garden.

Hi Lovemyveg - Honey Fungus can be pretty variable, but, yes, I'm afraid I'd say this is what you are dreading.... It is defo the right colour for Honey Fungus, with the slightly darker middle to the cap. Can't quite see it on this picture, but if you look closely you should see there are little fuzzy dark brown bits attached to the cap - i.e. it is not complete smooth. There should also be a single 'collar' around the stem.

An interesting point - the mark on the bottom left of your picture is obviously where you have left one of the fungus for a while and the white spores have left a patturn behind - mycologists (fungus anoracks) do this on purpose to examine the patterns and colours made which are differ between species.

On the bright side, although HF does attack living trees, it usually lives on dead wood. I've never lost a tree to it yet and my garden is literally riddled wit it. Maybe you can post a picture of your tree - what sort is it by the way? - in case it is something else that is killing your tree?

Sarah.

Hi Sarah, Thanks for your comments, I had feared the worst, so this comes as no big surprise. The tree was a Prunus Nigra, I have not got a picture of it and it being dark now will need to wait until another time to post one on the forum. Last Spring the dark foliage appeared, although I did not have any of the pink flowers beforehand, and then the leaves all dropped off before they had fully matured. There is no sign of new buds being formed so the poor thing has died. I am now looking to see what is next to be attacked and need to get the tree removed, which is 20 years old, so whether the root will be accessible remains to be seen. Would you dispose of the wood outside of our garden, or store the logs in our woodshed to be burnt on our two fires? I am rather afraid to do the latter as I do not want to spread the fungus around the garden and would be happier to bag up the logs and take them as far away as I can get them. Much appreciate your help.

Hi Lovemyveg - sorry about your tree. Personally, I would not bother carting the wood away. My reasoning (somebody else might have a different view) is that it is very unlikely I think that the fungus in your garden is just restricted to your tree and that area. I am sure you already know that the actual 'toadstool' is only the fruiting body of the organism, which is in fact made up of mycellium (spelling?), which are seen as black cord-like root-like structures beneath the soil surface. They are virtually impossible to get rid of. You could spend a fortune digging out tons of earth and carting that away, or pouring poison on your soil, but the likihood of getting rid of every bit is pretty slim. Also, I don't think the fungus would be able to spread from the dead wood once stacked up ready for burning (it's probably only attacking the roots anyway). The fungus spreads in two ways - by the mycellium as above, or by spores shed by the toadstools. I think it would be prudent to chop the tree down and cut it up for firewood as soon as possible and then give that wood priority in the wood pile, but as I say, if it's kept dry, I don't thing it'll be a problem.

Hope this helps. Don't forget, HF may not attack any more of your trees and if it does, there are species that are resistant, so replace using only those. Do a google for suitable replacements.

Sarah.

This is quite good news, to get rid of a whole tree was going to cause us a big problem. I have looked for the mycellium in the soil, but have been unable to find any signs of this, that why I posted the picture on GOY because I was so uncertain. I have also not been able to find any of the white threads underneath the bark, but I am sure that by cutting the tree down I may be enlightened more. I have a large garden and have not been aware of any problem elsewhere, that is why I was worried about keeping the wood, but of course it makes sense that the HF would be in the roots and the lower parts of the tree. Anything I have read seems to infer disposing of the wood by burning, but I would not have the space to do this in the garden.

I have already printed out a list of plants that are resistant to HF, but initially I will probably put in lots of annuals there until I can decide on what will suit the spot.

Great answer, thanks for your help.

No probs - glad you help :-)