Yes, a PNW one is needed! I did a couple of field mycology guides with Jessie Glaeser, but we looked more at western or SW species here and here and here. To be honest, the approach Jessie and I took is likely less useful than Luley's.
Thanks to the hard work of Dr. Chris Luley, we have a newly revised Wood Decay Fungi Common to the Northeast and Central US, currently sold exclusively through ISA here. Sure, there are lots of mushroom guides out there for the pro mycologist and casual enthusiast. What Luley has given us...
Classic description of a compartmentalized decay infection. The "dark core wood" is what Shigo (and I) call wound-initiated discoloration. I expect folks here to know about Shigo's description of the process. My super-simple explanation is linked here.
Indeed, multiple decay columns may intersect and result in a yet larger decay column. Dissections of tapped sugar maples, particularly for trees improperly tapped, illustrate this well. Also, compartmentalization boundaries can be mechanically breached with the subsequent spread of infection...
As for the cracks, how about from the mechanical stress from felling? Bash and crash and all that. I've seen that happen in beech and maple of size. Sure, may well have been "pre-loaded" with stress. Some rips might explain it, maybe not.
Although past prime, the coloration of the pore surface also suggests schweinitzii . A handy characteristic is that fresh P. schweinitzii will have some degree of hairiness or furry-ness on the upper surface. Not all over, necessarily, may be in alternating concentric bands. With respect to the...
Oooh, I was going to say walnut....until I saw Neill's suggestion of Chinese pistache. I don't think of that here in northern Yankee-land! Now, I don't know. A discussion on the differential identification is presented here.
In hopes of a teaching moment here, even pretty coarse field identifications require knowing little physical facts as in: Shape and size of pores, is the top of the bracket smooth, shiny, furry, hairy? Are there gradations in color? Is the bracket stiff, leathery, brittle or ? I'm not talking...
Thanks Evo for the topic and nudge. Here is my take on the fragility of ash structure and EAB. First by any standards, ash wood has a low resistance to decomposition by wood decay fungi, both because of low wood density and the lack of wood-preserving heartwood extractives. Second, I believe...
And best to replace with resistant varieties/species to the black knot disease. I'm not sure from which Milford comes the OP, but throughout New England and beyond, native wild black cherry (especially multi-stemmed brushy little guys) provide an essentially infinite reservoir of the pathogen...
Ah, look for truncate basidiospores. For Ganoderma species, there will be what looks like an angular cut for the basidiospores. I'm sure there are images online! Particularly for old, dried specimens, I razor off a thin section of the pore surface, and then use the razor blade to chop up that...
Well, certainly not Ganoderma tsugae, the hemlock varnish conk. Have you ruled out Ischnoderma? A few details would help. Is the top surface smooth/shiny as if it were polished or waxy like a Concord grape or furry with very short hairs? The pore surface is nice to see, but there isn't much to...
Sure, there are other "bark smoothing" fungi out there, mostly nibbling around the edges. I've seen Dendrothele (Corticiaceae) smoothing live oak bark. Interestingly, Aleurodiscus is in the Steareaceae, a whole other family in a whole other order of basidiomycetes. That tells me that these fungi...
If any of y'all have questions (or answers) you'd like me to cover on the June 30th episode, let me know. I'm still thinking about the best structure for the talk.
Here in northern Yankee-land, we were under a mile of ice 15,000 years or so ago. But yes, the nature of what constitutes an individual is far broader in type than our direct personal experience. Not trying to be woo-woo here, but earthly existence has more than one model habit or lifestyle...