pholiota

[rodger]

Anybody got any experience of Pholiota on large diameter trees.
Only found one ref in Strouts and Winter.Its all fine and dandy identifying it, its the consequences that are important.
the tree I'm thinking of is in very good condition but is ringed by fruiting bodies.bark is intact with no decay visible.
My gut says its in weakly pathogenic mode.
Anybody come across serious root decay on large trees attributable purely to Pholiota?

[ArborQuest (CS)]

Claus Matthecks book ' Manual of Wood Decays' gives some info, stating the rot first becomes brittle then soft! Probably not very helpful as it doesnt describe time scales. But he does says its a root/stem base attacker rather than stem.

And D.Lonsdale mentions it but dosent have a great deal to say about it in his book 'Principles of Tree Hazard Assesssment......."

I have only seen it once on a large Beech, the pics are on the AIE,  but cant help with decay details.

Good luck.

[Treeman]

A previous post.

I occasionally go in to Askham Bryan College at York. I noted the offending fruit bodies on a robinia at the beginning of the winter 06. They where discovered on the buttress roots growing from an area that looked like it had been damaged a number of years ago by mowers. It was a large tree and I think it was probably planted after the Second World War when a lot of planting at the college was undertaken. It was a great specimen.

The strong winds of January 17 2007 blow it over, and on inspecting the tree on its side, there was extensive and spreading root death around the area where the fruiting bodies I had found.

Not sure how long, or how quickly the infection had spread, but it definitely could leave the tree in a unstable situation

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Treeman