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from hazchem contains these words:

I don't know if you managed to see the pictures I put onto the
website, if not I have tried to put them on a different site he-
http://www.geocities.com/gdvbqz/beech/beech.html
From what you said the council could be right about it being likely to
fall over.

I saw the pics on the original URL.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

It is a fungus I associate with stumps of trees that are already dead. Maybe that is suggestive of something.

Like this
http://www.aie.org.uk/fungi_base/mer...meripilus.html

Several web sources suggest it is dangerous
http://www.lantratraining.co.uk/Fungi.htm
http://www.islington.gov.uk/council/...05/09/2199.asp

This notes specifically that it grows on the roots of trees
http://www.rogersmushrooms.com/galle...k~bid~6416.asp

Of course tree surgeons have an economic interest, but I haven't found a source suggesting that it is not really a problem. For example, the lantra source above only suggests that certain fungi rae a terminal problem.

In article ,
echinosum wrote:
Rusty Hinge 2;818362 Wrote:

Looks like a Giant Polypore a bit past its sell-by date: Meripilus
giganteus

If it is, it's common, and I haven't heard of it as a destructive
fungus. I repeat, ask in alt.nature.mushrooms - you WILL get chapter
and
verse there.

It is a fungus I associate with stumps of trees that are already dead.
Maybe that is suggestive of something.

It is. Such fungi attack only dead wood, but that includes the
heartwood. The only harm that they do to trees is to reduce their
structural integrity - as mentioned, oak has coadapted to that, and
such fungal attack actually INCREASES its structural integrity.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The fungus seems to too gone over for a positive ident;
but looks like giant polyphore to me - very common on
beech.
This attacks the roots and by the time the bracket fungus
appears the roots are damaged and the tree could easily
blow down.
I have just had this with an 80-year old beech growing
through electric and telephone cables and beside a road -
cost £400 to disassemble - two men during one day.
Davy

In article . 145,
Davy wrote:
The fungus seems to too gone over for a positive ident;
but looks like giant polyphore to me - very common on
beech.

As are a good many other bracket fungi with similar properties.

This attacks the roots and by the time the bracket fungus
appears the roots are damaged and the tree could easily
blow down.

Yes, but that implies that it actually harms the roots. Does it,
or is it just a heartwood destroyer, and simply reduce the
structural integrity? I thought that it was the latter.

I have just had this with an 80-year old beech growing
through electric and telephone cables and beside a road -
cost £400 to disassemble - two men during one day.

Not a lot for a complicated task.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.