I had the fortune to spend some time with Advisory again. Had the wonderful challenge to identify a fungi that was attacking a Fraxinus tree. From the very good Roger Philips 'Mushrooms' book, I worked out that it was a Ganoderma species. Then I looked at a separate specimen underneath a microscope to learn more about identifying them. I learned that it came down to the average pores in a millimetre to telling separate species apart. I counted the average of pores between a millimetre (using a ruler under the microscope), and surmised that it was Ganoderma applanatum because there seemed to be an average of 4-5 pore in each millimetre that I counted - I was correct.
I couldn't identify from just the photos the exact Ganoderma species, but I could see what may have caused the tree to have become infected - an electrical box had been nailed to the tree and the growth of the tree and fungi even had come to absorb the wires that coiled around it. People forget that they are dealing with living plants. The Ash tree had developed another fungi on a dead limb, it could not be rescued - just a question of how hazardous it was at this stage and a matter of time of when it would need to be felled. We suggested to the member that it was best for them to consult a tree surgeon further.
Photo 1 is a sample of an Euonymus with scale insects - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=798 that a member has sent in. This is sent off to Entomology to be confirmed.
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| Photo 1 |
| Photo 2. |